Trump threatens fresh Iran strikes, boasts US has ‘near-total surveillance’ over the nation

Trump has claimed that the United States has near-total surveillance capabilities over Iran and said he did not expect the latest flare-up in the on-again, off-again war between the two countries to last “too long”.

Speaking to reporters at the Oval Office, Trump said Washington was prepared to launch another attack on Iran “anytime we want”, following the biggest exchange of fire between the two sides since July.

“We hit them very hard,” Trump said, claiming that the US now had “very strong control” over the Strait of Hormuz, a vital global oil shipping route that Tehran has effectively blockaded for six months.

Trump said US forces were escorting vessels carrying millions of barrels of oil through the strait and claimed Iranian attempts to rebuild radar, missile, and mine-laying capabilities had been destroyed.

Trump boasts of US surveillance

"You know, we got rid of all the mines in the Hormuz Strait. They were trying to build a rocket that drops mines. Who does that? I never heard of such a thing, but that's what they were doing. They were building it. It was almost finished, so we took it out."

Also Read: US strikes kill 5 of wedding party in Iran, Tehran warns of ‘severe punishment’

Boasting about America's surveillance capabilities, he said, "We saw that they were building it. We see everything that they're doing. They can't move. They can't go to the bathroom without us seeing it. So we saw that. We took it out. We took out some other things..."

Children among those killed

The latest US strikes reportedly killed at least 18 people, including two children, and wounded around 108 in Iran. Tehran said American forces struck areas along Iran’s southern coast, including a wedding party in Kuhestak. One of the victims was a four-year-old child killed in the Kuhestak attack, where at least four people died.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei described the attack as a “war crime”, rejecting US claims that civilians were not targeted.

Iran retaliates

Iran has retaliated by attacking US military bases in Kuwait, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region.

Kuwait’s military said it intercepted a missile and drone attack from Iran on Thursday. Iranian state television confirmed the attacks, saying they were carried out in response to US actions against Iran.

Also Read: ‘No country should help Iran’: Rubio’s warning after Modi- Pezeshkian meeting

Iranian security chief Mohsen Rezaei warned Washington that Tehran had adopted a “new strategy” that would “shatter your foundations”.

Meanwhile, Washington has also threatened sanctions on countries trading with Iran as it seeks to intensify economic pressure on Tehran.

War raises political pressure

The six-month conflict has sent oil prices higher and intensified economic and political pressure on Trump ahead of November’s US midterm elections.

Also Read: Iran bets on Strait of Hormuz leverage to force Trump into a deal

A Reuters/Ipsos poll in August showed only 31 per cent of Americans approving of the war, while 63 per cent disapproved. Brent crude has risen to around USD 95 a barrel, more than 30 per cent above its level at the start of the war.

Trump said he did not expect the renewed campaign to last long and insisted the elections were not influencing his strategy.