Sawt Falasteen - Trump vows 'hard' new Iran strikes for 'playing us for suckers'

Trump's remarks came after the two sides traded fire following the downing of a US helicopter, further straining a ceasefire that took effect in April.

"We hit them hard yesterday and we're going to hit them again hard today, in case you miss it, in case you don't turn on your television set," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

"And we'll see what happens with a deal. We were really close to a deal, but they keep tapping us along, they keep playing us for suckers."

The United States said it had carried out strikes on Iran on Tuesday retaliation for the shooting down of the Apache chopper. Its two crew members were rescued.

Trump said he could order the targeting of Iranian bridges and power plants, a step he had originally threatened just before the ceasefire but never followed through on.

"I am not going to say that to you. But I can do that," Trump said when asked by an AFP journalist about a Fox News report that he was considering such plans.

With inflation hitting a three-year high on Wednesday because of the Iran conflict, Trump said that the US military secretly helped 100 million barrels of oil pass through the contested Strait of Hormuz.

"Last month, I directed our Great U.S. Military to execute a secret mission to support Oil Tankers and other Commercial Ships through the Straight of Hormuz," Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform.

Iran largely closed the crucial waterway in response to US and Israeli attacks and its reopening has been one of Trump's key demands for a deal.

- 'Pay the price' -

Trump appeared to be losing patience with the peace talks with Iran, after weeks of repeatedly saying the two sides were close to a deal.

The US leader had earlier warned in a social media post that Iran would have to "pay the price" for what he called stalling on a deal over the conflict in the Middle East.

"The Bully of the Middle East is DEAD!!! They’ve taken too long to negotiate a deal that would have been great for them, now they will have to pay the price!!!" Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

It marked a major contrast with his comments to reporters on Tuesday that negotiations on an enduring settlement to end the war were in their "final throes," and could be wrapped up in "two or three days."

In another social post on Wednesday, Trump praised the US blockade of Iranian shipping, calling it "the most successful" in history while labeling it a "steel wall."

He claimed that the blockade had halted Iranian business and prevented it from paying military wages, while still allowing other countries to export "lots of oil."

"Praise be to Allah!" Trump wrote.

In the US strikes late Tuesday, the US Central Command said the US Air Force and Navy had hit command and control, defense and surveillance stations.

Iran said it attacked American bases in Jordan and Bahrain on Wednesday.

But Trump said that despite the fighting he was hoping for "peace for the world" for his 80th birthday on Sunday -- when he is hosting a cage fight on the White House lawn.

Z.AbuSaud--SF-PST