Trump ‘losing faith’ in talks, threatens to ‘hit Iran hard’

The United States will be hitting Iran “very hard” in the next several weeks, President Donald Trump told reporters on Friday at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland, where he held a meeting earlier with his Cabinet.

Asked about talks to end the conflict with the Islamic Republic, the president said that Iranian negotiators are making him “angry.”

“I’m losing faith in them because they do lie and do, they do misrepresent,” he said.

“As an example, we’ll talk about nuclear, and we’ll be in there talking about nuclear for seven hours, and I say ..., why do you need seven? You can take 10 minutes. You have five minutes; you should solve it. And they’ll go out and they’ll say, ‘We never discussed nuclear.’ And I say ‘Why, why do they say that?’ All they do is make me angry. You know, they just make me angry,” Trump said.

Speaking about renewed military operations, the president added, “You know, at some point they’re [the Iranians] going to say, ‘We just can’t take it anymore.’”

Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, echoed Trump’s sentiment later that day, saying that Tehran signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the U.S. but then quickly “broke it, shot at commercial ships, and killed American soldiers.

“President Trump is not going to stand by and allow this terrorist behavior to occur. Iran will continue to pay until they come to the table in, what President Trump deems, a meaningful way,” she added in a statement released to wire services.

‘Israel is unaware of a decision to restart military operations’

Trump ordered fresh military attacks on Iran that could last several days, The Wall Street Journal cited U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, as saying on Friday.

The American military and the Israel Defense Forces are planning to restart joint attacks against Iran, targeting critical energy infrastructure sites, possibly beginning this weekend, CBS News reported, citing unnamed U.S. officials.

However, the president has not made a final decision, the sources added.

“Israel is unaware of a decision to restart full military operations, nor has been requested of Israel to join any military actions against Iran,” the report quoted an Israeli official as saying.

Meanwhile, U.S. Central Command disclosed that as of July 31, it has redirected 30 commercial vessels, disabled two and boarded two during the current enforcement phase of the blockade of Iranian ports, which resumed on July 14.

Nearly 30 ships were permitted to pass through the blockade for humanitarian aid, CENTCOM added.

Iran launches drones at Kuwait

Meanwhile, Ali Abdollahi, head of Iran’s military central command, blamed the United States for “escalating tensions” in the Middle East, threatening countries in the region against cooperating with Washington lest they “will be engulfed by the flames of war,” AFP reported.

A senior Iranian official told Iran’s semi-official Tasnim News Agency on Friday that Tehran has “a comprehensive response plan that includes the vital infrastructure of the Zionist regime and U.S. energy infrastructure in the region,” CBS News reported.

“We are fully prepared to carry it out,” the official added.

The U.S. military reportedly did not carry out attack overnight Friday against Iran.

On Saturday morning, Kuwait’s military said that it had intercepted Iranian drone attacks.

Additionally, a tanker was struck by an “unknown projectile” off the coast of Oman, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency said on Saturday.

Damage was caused to the engine room, but no injuries to personnel were reported, UKMTO added.

The U.S. embassy in Jerusalem advised U.S. citizens on Saturday to reconsider traveling to the Middle East and those who are in the region to consider departing in light of a potential “unforeseen escalation” with Iran and its proxies.

“U.S. diplomatic facilities, including outside the Middle East, have been targeted. Iran and groups supportive of Iran may target other U.S. interests overseas or at locations associated with the United States and Americans throughout the world, including U.S. businesses and other institutions,” the embassy wrote on its website.