As the U.S. military launched airstrikes on Iran for a second day, U.S. President Donald Trump warned that he would respond firmly if Iran carried out additional attacks on merchant ships.
On the 8th (local time), President Trump posted a series of images and videos presumed to show the strikes on his social media, Truth Social, and said, "This is a retaliatory measure for Iran's attack yesterday on a vessel transiting the Strait of Hormuz."
He warned, "If this happens again, the strikes Iran will face will be far more serious."
The video Trump posted included scenes of massive flames shooting up from what appeared to be a coastal area. There was no explanation of the source of the footage or who filmed it.
The U.S. military has continued airstrikes against Iran for two consecutive days. On this day, U.S. Central Command, which oversees U.S. forces in the Middle East, said, "At the direction of the commander in chief (President Donald Trump), U.S. Central Command has launched additional airstrikes targeting Iran."
Central Command also announced the day before that it had carried out retaliatory strikes hitting more than 80 targets in response to Iran's attack on merchant ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
The United States argues that Iran's attacks on the 6th–7th in the area of the Strait of Hormuz on three merchant ships—a Qatar-flagged liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier and Saudi Arabia- and Liberia-flagged oil tankers—violated the cease-fire.