The United States has launched a fresh wave of military strikes against Iran after Tehran began targeting cargo ships in the Strait of Hormuz, prompting President Donald Trump to issue a stark warning. Speaking at a defence summit, Trump declared that Iran must 'behave' and warned that further US strikes would cripple the country, targeting bridges and power plants unless it backs down.
'I don't like giving deadlines, but they pretty much know, they know the story… they better behave,' Trump said. He added: 'You'd better make a deal, or you're not going to have anything left.' The president also claimed that Iran 'wants to settle so badly.'
Escalation in the Strait of Hormuz
The strikes come after multiple cargo ships were attacked by Iran this week in the vital waterway, which is a key chokepoint for global oil shipments. Talks between the US and Iran have stalled over disagreements about the strait, leading Trump to reimpose a blockade on the waterway. Iran has also continued carrying out missile and drone strikes against US allies in the Middle East, including Bahrain, Kuwait, and Jordan.
As part of the military response, the US has deployed kamikaze drones to target Iranian naval facilities at Bandar Abbas Naval Base. This series of attacks over the weekend marked the first time the US military used uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) as strike weapons in combat, according to military officials.
Vance defends military strategy
US Vice President JD Vance, who has previously spoken out against US involvement in foreign conflicts, defended Trump's approach. 'What the president has done very, very capably is say we're going to use military force in this situation when it's connected to something we're trying to achieve, so if you shoot at ships, we're going to shoot at the facilities which you use to shoot at the ships,' Vance said.
'But we're not just going to do something open-ended, indefinitely. We're not just going to bomb and bomb and bomb. We're going to try to use our military force as one of the many tools that we have to solve the problem,' he added.
US Navy's increasing use of uncrewed vessels
The operation marks the latest development in the US Navy's increasing use of uncrewed vessels in operational roles. Last month, a Saronic Corsair USV was used to help rescue the crew of a US Army AH-64 Apache helicopter that crashed in the Gulf of Oman after the aircraft was reportedly brought down during hostilities with Iran. Military officials described it as the first known use of a drone boat to recover personnel during a search-and-rescue mission.
