Trump says US close to striking Iran's power plants, bridges over failing negotiations

Later on Wednesday, Trump told reporters at the White House that the US will "hit them [Iran] hard again today."

"We hit them hard yesterday, and we're going to hit them again hard today," said Trump. "And we'll see what happens with the deal. We were really close to a deal, but they keep tapping us along. They keep playing us for suckers because you know what? They dealt with some very stupid Presidents."

"It was just tap, tap, tap," Trump said, referring to Iran dragging out negotiations. "I don't know what they are doing."

Trump added that Iran has already agreed not to obtain a nuclear weapon, but the agreement still needs to be signed. "We want a deal that is meaningful, a deal that works. We don't want a Barack Hussein Obama deal, JCPOA, the worst deal," said Trump. "That was a path to a nuclear - it was the exact opposite... first it was over. It was a short-term deal."

"His [Obama's] was a path to a nuclear weapon. They were developing, during his administration, a nuclear weapon," Trump added, emphasizing that the new deal "doesn't give them the right to have a nuclear weapon. In fact, it totally prohibits them from ever having a nuclear weapon."

"If they had a nuclear weapon, there would be no Israel, there would be no Middle East, and they would have absolutely shot at us," Trump continued.

"Did you know we've been taking out millions of barrels of oil?" added Trump. "Nobody knows it. You know who doesn't know about it? Iran - until right now. We took out, the other night, 22 ships."

On Wednesday evening, Trump announced in a Truth Social post that he had ordered the US military in May to undertake a "secret mission" to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz.

"I am pleased to announce that this effort has resulted in more than 100 MILLION Barrels of Oil making its way through the Straight, and into the Open Market," Trump wrote. "More than 200 Commercial Ships have safely traveled through the Strait."

"This wildly successful effort is because the UNITED STATES of AMERICA CONTROLS the Strait of Hormuz — NOT Iran," the post continued. "Their military is defeated, and their economy is lost. It’s over for Iran!"

Earlier on Wednesday, Trump implied that he would take action against Iran for taking too long on a peace deal. "The Bully of the Middle East is DEAD!!!" wrote Trump in a Truth Social post. "They've taken too long to negotiate a deal that would have been great for them, now they will have to pay the price!!!"

The downed Apache pilots were rescued by a US military unmanned vehicle, with Trump describing the operation as a "miracle."

Trump told Fox that an Iranian drone had hit the low-flying helicopter without exploding, with the pilots managing to safely bring the aircraft down while the drone was still lodged inside the fuselage.

"It was on fire, it was hot," Trump said of the conditions the pilots faced during the incident.

Iran's military spokesperson, Abolfazl Shekarchi, responded to Trump's statements later on Wednesday, telling Iranian state media that the country has "proven that we will respond to threats accordingly."

Also on Wednesday, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that Iran would be "unwise" to challenge America further.

"Right now, they’re [US strikes on Iran] defensive strikes to ensure we protect our people," Hegseth said during a visit to the US base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. "President Trump is seeking a deal. But not just a deal, a great deal on behalf of the American people so that Iran never gets a nuclear weapon."

The Trump administration has issued a fresh round of Iran-related sanctions targeting six individuals and four entities, including some tied to China, according to a notice posted on the US Treasury Department's website on Wednesday.