Trump vows Iran will be ‘hit very hard’ after Iranian president’s mixed signals on ending attacks

President Trump vowed Saturday that Iran would be “hit very hard” — including “areas and groups of people” not previously considered as targets — after claiming the country had “surrendered to its Middle East neighbors.”

The president’s comments on Truth Social followed a televised address by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who apologized to neighboring Gulf countries and suggested the strikes were the result of military units acting without clear orders after the killing of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

But Pezeshkian rejected the demand for unconditional surrender and later issued a second statement insisting Iran’s fire had been aimed at “U.S. military bases, facilities, and installations,” not at neighboring nations.

Sirens continued to sound across Bahrain, Qatar and Saudi Arabia on Saturday, and the UAE reported intercepting 16 ballistic missiles and 121 drones from Iran.

Multiple news outlets reported on Friday that Russia is providing Iran with intelligence on the movements of the U.S. military that could aid its retaliatory attacks. It is unclear what Russia wants in return from Iran.

In a show of support for the U.S. military operation in Iran, House Republicans narrowly defeated a measure on Thursday that would have forced Trump to seek congressional authorization before launching further attacks on Iran. On Wednesday, Senate Republicans defeated a similar measure.

Trump has defended ordering the U.S. strikes without congressional approval, saying Iran’s refusal to halt its pursuit of nuclear weapons, combined with a growing ballistic missile program, posed “an intolerable threat.” Trump and U.S. officials have not ruled out sending ground troops into Iran.

At least 1,230 people have been killed in Iran since the U.S.-Israeli weekend assault on Tehran, including Khamenei. At least a dozen people in Israel and more than 200 people in Lebanon have been killed, according to officials in those countries.

Six U.S. service members have died in retaliatory strikes, according to U.S. Central Command.

They were killed by a drone strike while stationed in Kuwait, according to the Department of Defense. Trump is scheduled to travel to Dover Air Force Base on Saturday for the dignified transfer of their remains.

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