US President Donald Trump told reporters on Thursday night that the US is still negotiating with Iran, despite the exchange of fire near the Strait of Hormuz earlier in the day.
He further stated that Pakistan had asked Washington not to pursue his announced “Project Freedom" to escort ships out of the Strait while talks were ongoing.
“We're negotiating with the Iranians. We have, you probably heard, we took our three destroyers and we rammed them through some pretty big stuff today, and we knocked the hell out of them," Trump said, referring to the exchange of fire with Iran.
“The destroyers weren't hurt in any way. The people weren't hurt, but they were firing at us, and we were firing back at them. And our firepower was a hell of a lot stronger than theirs, and they knocked the hell out of them," he added.
Earlier on Thursday, a senior US official told Fox News that the US military struck Iran’s Qeshm Port and Bandar Abbas.
The official stressed, however, that the attacks do not signal a renewed war.
Later, a senior US official told Fox News that the US military also struck Iran’s Bandar Kargan naval checkpoint in Minab.
Meanwhile, the Iranian Tasnim news agency reported that the Iranian Navy attacked three US destroyers near the Strait of Hormuz with missiles and drones.
The Khatam al-Anbiya Headquarters of the Iranian military claimed in an official statement that the United States violated the ceasefire by attacking Iranian vessels.
"We will respond to any attack with force and without any hesitation," the statement read.
Trump, however, told ABC News that the retaliatory strikes against Iranian targets are just a "love tap."
Asked if the ceasefire is over, he stressed, "No, no, the ceasefire is going. It's in effect."
In a subsequent post on Truth Social, Trump elaborated further on the incident and also warned Iran that “we’ll knock them out a lot harder, and a lot more violently, in the future, if they don’t get their Deal signed, FAST!"
On Tuesday, Trump declared that Project Freedom, meant to escort foreign ships out of the Strait of Hormuz, would be halted in order to allow for talks with Iran. This came just two days after he announced the launch of the operation.
On Wednesday, Trump issued an ultimatum to Iran, writing on his Truth Social platform, "Assuming Iran agrees to give what has been agreed to, which is, perhaps, a big assumption, the already legendary Epic Fury will be at an end, and the highly effective Blockade will allow the Hormuz Strait to be OPEN TO ALL, including Iran."
He added a warning to Iran: "If they don’t agree, the bombing starts, and it will be, sadly, at a much higher level and intensity than it was before."
Speaking to reporters in the White House later in the day, Trump said that there have been “good talks" with Iran recently, adding that its leaders “badly" want a deal and have agreed not to have nuclear weapons.
“They want to make a deal badly. And we'll see if we get there. If we get there, they can’t have nuclear weapons. It's very simple," Trump stated.