Hegseth warns Iran against challenging US further

US Central Command said American forces disabled a Palau-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman on Tuesday after it violated the US blockade by attempting to transport oil from Iran.

"At 11:14 p.m. on June 9, U.S. forces disabled an oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman for the second consecutive day after another vessel violated the ongoing blockade by attempting to transport oil from Iran," CENTCOM said in a statement.

"A U.S. aircraft fired precision munitions into the ship’s engine room after the crew repeatedly failed to comply with directions from American forces," CENTCOM added.

President Donald Trump said on Wednesday the United States would hit Iran "hard" again.

“We hit them hard yesterday. We’re going to hit them again hard today, and we’ll see what happens with the deal,” Trump told reporters at the Oval Office.

“If they had a nuclear weapon, there’d be no Israel, there’d be no Middle East, and they would have absolutely shot at us,” he added.

"We'll see what happens with a deal (with Iran). We were — we were really close to a deal but they keep tapping us along, they keep playing us for suckers because you know what, they dealt with some very stupid presidents. I have to say that, I'm embarrassed to say that, some very stupid people were sitting here," he said.

Trump said that Iran has already agreed to not obtaining a nuclear weapon, but the agreement still needs to be signed.

He also said that the United States had taken out “millions of barrels of oil” and 22 ships without Iran’s knowledge, adding that this was why oil was trading at $85 a barrel.

US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker said President Donald Trump wanted peace and a deal with Iran but would enforce his “red line” that Tehran cannot have a nuclear weapon.

“President Trump, while he is patient, and he is a dealmaker and he wants peace — at the same time, he knows that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon,” Whitaker told Fox News.

“That is the starting point, that is the red line, and unlike other presidents... when he (Trump) draws a red line, he enforces it,” he added.

Iranian lawmaker Esmail Kowsari warned that Iran would target the infrastructure of Arab states astride the Persian Gulf unless they stopped US President Donald Trump and expelled American forces from the region.

“The countries south of the Persian Gulf are not thinking of their own interests and must stop the wicked US president, expel the Americans from the region and send them back to the land of cattle herders,” Kowsari said.

“Otherwise, Iran will target their infrastructure,” he added.

Shrapnel from an Iranian ballistic missile hit an Israeli air force base in northern Israel on Sunday night, CNN reported, citing an Israeli source and a military source.

IRGC had said it struck the Ramat David air base in northern Israel in one of the first rounds of ballistic missile fire on Sunday night.

CNN cited an Israeli military source as saying a piece of the missile hit a structure at the base, and that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) was still investigating the extent of the damage.