WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Iran is taking “too long to negotiate a deal” and warned that “now they will have to pay the price,” as U.S. airstrikes and Iranian retaliation across the region pushed a fragile ceasefire to its limit.
Trump’s remarks on Truth Social came hours after Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan came under Iranian fire, according to U.S. officials. The United States had launched its own airstrikes early Wednesday against Iran after Trump blamed Tehran for the crash of an American attack helicopter.
It was not immediately clear what Trump’s warning would mean for Tehran. But the back-and-forth strikes marked the second time this week that such attacks tested the ceasefire, after Iran and Israel targeted each other Monday.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei accused Washington of undermining diplomacy through contradictory messages, shifting positions and repeated ceasefire violations.
In Doha, Qatar’s Foreign Ministry condemned the Iranian attacks on Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan, calling them “a flagrant violation of the sovereignty of these states and a blatant breach of the rules of international law.”
In a post on X, the ministry expressed solidarity with the three nations and said the strikes were “unjustified,” urging de-escalation “to restore security and stability regionally and internationally.”
