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U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the U.S. military would strike Iran “hard” after Tehran said it launched missiles at U.S. military facilities in Jordan, according to Fox News.
“We’ll be hitting them hard. They’re going to get a beating,” a Fox News correspondent quoted Trump as saying.
The correspondent said Trump used profanity to emphasize his warning: “We are going to beat the ‘effing s’ out of them.”
Iran said it fired missiles at U.S. military facilities in Jordan, while the Jordanian military said it intercepted five Iranian missiles.
Trump also told Fox News that overnight Saudi-U.S. strikes against Iran-aligned armed groups in Iraq had been coordinated with Iraqi authorities.
The Iraqi government, however, publicly condemned the attacks.
The Iraqi presidency said it “denounces the bombing that targeted the Hashed al-Shaabi bases and it considers it an unacceptable attack and a blatant violation of Iraq’s sovereignty, targeting its official institutions.”
It also rejected the use of Iraqi territory to launch attacks against neighboring countries.
The U.S. military said logistics and weapons facilities belonging to an Iran-aligned group were targeted in the strikes.
The joint operation followed attacks on Saudi oil facilities by what Riyadh described as “terrorist militias loyal to Iran.”
Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, had reported drone attacks targeting crude facilities for two consecutive days and said the drones were launched by Iraqi armed groups allied with Tehran.
Saudi authorities previously said they intercepted drones launched by the groups.
The escalation came during the fifth month of the U.S. war against Iran, following a brief lull that had raised hopes of renewed negotiations.
Trump had previously said he wanted to pursue a negotiated solution.
Saudi Arabia and the U.S. announced strikes on armed group bases in Iraq on Wednesday, while Israel accused Iran-backed Hezbollah of violating a ceasefire.
Iranian state media also reported a U.S. attack near Iran’s border with Iraq.
Oil prices rose 5% amid concerns that the renewed fighting could disrupt global supplies.
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