US President Donald Trump warned Tuesday that Iran "took too long to negotiate a deal that would have been very favorable to them" and said the country "will now have to pay the consequences."
Trump issued the warning on his Truth Social platform, adding that "Iran talks but doesn't act" and declaring that "the bully of the Middle East is dead."
He also said Iran's military is "a total mess" and that large parts of its armed forces, including its navy and air force, "no longer exist," concluding that Iran has been "totally defeated."
The United States and Iran had been maintaining a fragile truce after end-of-war negotiations reached a stalemate. The two sides resumed hostilities Monday after a US Army Apache helicopter went down in the Strait of Hormuz.
Earlier, Trump claimed the helicopter crash resulted from an Iranian attack and signaled a retaliatory response, saying the United States "will inevitably have to respond to this attack."
husn7@heraldcorp.com
