Trump Says Iran ‘Called’ and Wants ‘to Make a Deal So Badly’ After Renewed Strikes

President Donald Trump claimed Iran reached out seeking negotiations just hours after the U.S. launched a second night of strikes across the country, despite the president declaring a day earlier that a ceasefire was “over” and dismissing diplomacy as “a waste of time.”

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Thursday, Trump said Tehran had contacted Washington following the latest military operation, which targeted dozens of sites across Iran overnight.

“They called a little while ago,” Trump said, adding that Iran’s leaders “want to make a deal so badly.”

The president, however, cast doubt on whether any renewed diplomatic push would succeed, saying he did not know whether Iran was “worthy of making a deal,” or whether it would “honor” any agreement.

“We just hit them very hard. And I say we hit them 20 to 1, every time they hit us, we’re going to hit them 20. And we did it last night. They did a little something today, but it was really retribution for last night. They hit actually three boats, not two. And when they hit, we hit back much harder. They have very little left,” he added.

The comments came less than a day after Trump declared the ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran “over” following attacks on ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic waterway through which roughly a fifth of the world’s oil supply passes.

The Pentagon said a second round of attacks on Wednesday night was intended to ensure the Strait of Hormuz remained open to international shipping after renewed threats to maritime traffic in the region.

Iran responded by launching attacks on Kuwait and Bahrain.

The latest American strikes reportedly hit dozens of targets across Iran, with explosions rattling cities along the country’s southern coastline. Iranian state media reported that at least three people were killed in the overnight attacks, while power outages affected parts of the region following the bombardment.

Watch above via CNN.

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