Iran tried to catch American forces off guard.

President Trump’s answer was about as subtle as a sledgehammer.

“We’re going to beat the f***ing s*** out of them,” Trump told Fox News after Iran launched multiple ballistic missiles toward U.S. forces in the Middle East.

“We’ll be hitting them hard,” he added.

Fox News chief foreign correspondent Trey Yingst reported the comments Wednesday morning, along with Trump’s confirmation that U.S. strikes against Iran-backed militias in Iraq had been coordinated with the Iraqi government.

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The commander in chief was telling Tehran exactly how the United States would respond after Iran tried to restart the shooting on its terms.

U.S. Central Command said the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched the missiles at 5:45 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday in what it called an “attempted surprise attack.”

Every missile was intercepted, according to CENTCOM, and American forces remained at a high state of readiness.

The Associated Press reported that Iran said the missiles were aimed at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base and CENTCOM’s headquarters in Jordan. Jordan’s military later said it intercepted and destroyed five Iranian missiles.

The barrage ended a short pause in direct attacks and arrived while mediators were still trying to find a way out of the wider conflict. The war began February 28, and a June interim agreement failed to keep the fighting from roaring back this month.

The AP said Iraq’s prime minister called an emergency National Security Council meeting after the overnight strikes. The Popular Mobilization Forces, an umbrella organization that includes powerful Iran-backed militias, claimed at least 20 fighters were killed and 32 wounded.

Those groups are formally connected to Iraq’s security structure but often operate with considerable independence. Some have repeatedly attacked American facilities, placing Baghdad in the middle of a fight it has struggled to control.

The missile attack also came only days after Trump paused U.S. strikes to give diplomacy another chance. That pause did not buy silence.

Axios reported that this was Iran’s first ballistic-missile attack on a U.S. base in the region since the pause began. The outlet noted that Trump had warned Monday that the United States would return to “very strong military action” if talks failed.

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By Tuesday night, American and Saudi aircraft were already in action over eastern Iraq.

CENTCOM said the joint force hit logistics and weapons sites used by Iran-aligned militias. The command tied those strikes to more than 30 IRGC-directed drone attacks over the preceding 72 hours against U.S. forces and Saudi energy infrastructure.

CENTCOM said the attacks on American forces had failed and warned that the IRGC and its proxies must stop if they want to avoid another U.S. military response.

The casualty figures came from the militia side and were not independently confirmed by the U.S. military.

Trump also made clear that military force has not completely closed the door to more negotiations.

“We’re going to let them keep talking,” he said when asked about future discussions with Iran.

That leaves Tehran staring at two tracks at once.

The diplomatic channel is still technically open. The military channel is already delivering an answer.

Iran’s attempt to seize the initiative with a surprise barrage failed. Its missiles were intercepted, its proxy network was hit, and President Trump put the next warning in language nobody could possibly misunderstand.

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This is a Guest Post from our friends over at WLTReport. View the original article here.

 

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