Trump says Iran has taken “too long” to negotiate, “will pay the price” as war appears to be looming

A tanker off the coast of Oman, near the eastern entrance to the Strait of Hormuz, called on Wednesday to say it had been hit by a missile, causing an engine fire, British security firm Vanguard Tech said.

The UK Navy’s Maritime Trade Operations agency also reported an incident off the coast of Oman where a fire broke out in the engine room of a tanker, but did not identify the vessel. Two people were reported missing and one injured with unspecified injuries, according to UKMTO.

“Local authorities have reported that a tanker has caught fire in their cabin and are on the scene helping to evacuate crews,” UKMTO said, adding that there was no known environmental impact.

Iran has taken “too long” to negotiate with the US and now it will have to “pay a price,” President Trump said in a social media post Wednesday morning.

Mr Trump’s statement came after the U..S. The ceasefire with Iran ended in a firefight on Tuesday following the downing of a US military Apache helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz on Monday evening.

After the U.S. retaliated by attacking a U.S. helicopter, President Trump told ABC News: “I believe the response should be very, very strong.”

“Iran is all talk and no action. The Middle East bully is DEAD!!! They took too long to negotiate a deal that would have been good for them, now they will have to pay the price!!!” said the president in his book Truth Social on Wednesday.

An Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman accused the United States on Wednesday of violating the ceasefire and sending conflicting messages after the overnight firefight.

Esmail Baqaei, spokesman for the ministry and Iran’s negotiating team, was quoted by the state news agency IRNA as saying that Iranian officials will review their position in the talks because of the recent strikes, which President Trump said were in retaliation for the downing of a US Apache helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz on Monday.

Baqaei called the actions of the US “damaging this diplomatic system.”

Jordan said on Wednesday it had shot down the next five missiles launched by Iran, which Iran said were targeting the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base. That base hosts American F-35 fighter jets and other aircraft.

Jordan’s state-run Petra news agency carried a statement from the military, which added that no one was injured in the attack and that explosives experts had examined the debris at the blockade.

Iran also launched drone attacks early Wednesday local time on US military installations in Bahrain and Kuwait, which sounded alerts and fired at air defenses.

The US military has hit nearly 20 targets in its strikes in Iran, a US official told CBS News, in retaliation for the downing of a US helicopter.

The targets included Iranian air defenses, radar sites and ground control stations, US Central Command said in a statement.

Iran launched drone strikes against US military installations in Kuwait and Bahrain on Wednesday morning local time, Iranian state media said.

This comes hours after the US carried out retaliatory strikes on Iran in response to the hijacking of an Apache helicopter belonging to the US military on Monday.

The state-controlled television network IRIB wrote on social media that the country’s military began attacking the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, and the Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait.

The Kuwaiti military later told X that its “air defense systems” are “currently intercepting hostile air targets.”

There was no word on whether any of the drone strikes hit their targets.