Trump vows to hit Iran hard, says US escorting ships through Hormuz

President Donald Trump threatened Iran on Monday with a significant escalation after US Forces traded fire with Iran for the first time in over a month, adding that the U.S. Navy helped many ships navigate the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump told Fox News that they are “going to hit them hard” and that there “will be a response.”

The president , at the White House on Monday, said that the strategic waterway was “in extremely good shape and American Navy officials are clearing “about 30” commercial vessels through it each night. “We’re taking over. Many, many ships got through last night, as you know, with the navy’s assistance, and we’ve been averaging 30 ships a night,” reports stated, as cited by Al Jazeera.

The US had struck several Iranian rocket launchers on Larak Island that were posing a threat to shipping throughout the Strait of Hormuz, Washington claimed. Iranian forces then retaliated, firing missiles on some of the U.S. Military installations in the Middle East.

Rising tensions in the strategic waterway have increased fears of further escalation and potential disruptions to global energy supplies.