The Iranian military on Thursday threatened to continue attacking American targets in the Middle East — and demanded a halt to President Donald Trump’s threats of further U.S. military action.
President Donald Trump said on Thursday afternoon that because “discussions with the Islamic Republic of Iran have been brought to the highest level of Iranian leadership and approved,” he has “cancelled the scheduled strikes and bombings against Iran this evening.”
“Discussions and final points have been, in both concept and great detail, approved by all parties involved, including the United States, Israel, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Turkey, Pakistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, Egypt, and others,” the president wrote on his Truth Social platform.
“The Naval Blockade will remain in full force and effect until this Transaction is finalized — Time and place of the signing to be announced shortly,” Trump added.
The Iranian military’s command center, the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters (KACH), crowed on Thursday that its recent missile and drone attacks inflicted “another defeat” on the United States, and interpreted the U.S. halting its own strikes on southern Iran as an act of surrender — a “direct result of the powerful and crushing response by the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Armed Forces.”
The KACH said Iran reserved the right to launch more attacks of its own in “response to U.S. aggression.”
Iran’s terrorist Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed on Thursday that it “successfully hit” 18 “important targets belonging to the U.S. military” with two waves of attacks.
“The targets were located at the Al-Salem and Ahmad al-Jaber air bases, as well as the Sheikh Isa air base,” the IRGC said. The first two bases are located in Kuwait, while the Sheikh Isa air base is in Bahrain.
The IRGC later said it launched 12 ballistic missiles at the Al-Azraq air base in Jordan and also attacked two oil tankers that tried to “illegally pass through” the Strait of Hormuz.
Contrary to the IRGC’s boasts of “successful attacks,” the Jordanian Army said it intercepted all of the missiles launched from Iran. Bahrain also said it intercepted Iran’s missiles, but not without some collateral damage to buildings and vehicles and a minor injury to an 11-year-old girl.
Kuwait said Iran once again attacked its international airport, not military targets. Kuwaiti officials said the attack “injured people and caused significant material damage and losses affecting radar facilities, equipment, and air traffic management systems.”
Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, Amir Saeid Iravani, said on Thursday that President Trump must cease his “recurring threats toward Iran.”
“No sustainable deal can be reached through threats, intimidation, or the use of force,” he said.
“Iran has never negotiated under threats and pressure and will never submit to pressure or coercion. The United States has repeatedly pursued this failed policy and should have learned by now that threats and military intimidation are counterproductive,” he said.