Washington [US], July 21 (ANI): President Donald Trump issued a stern warning to Tehran on Tuesday, declaring that the United States will hit “very, very powerfully” any site where Iran is even considering reconstituting nuclear capabilities, while re-claiming that the regime “desperately” wants dialogue as it gets “decimated.”Speaking during a bilateral meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun at the Oval Office, Trump pushed back against reporters’ assertions that Tehran shows no sign of stopping hostilities, claiming intense activity behind closed doors.”You don’t know what the dialogue is behind the scenes, that they want to meet desperately, to try and end it because they’re getting decimated. You don’t get that when you listen to your fake station, but, you don’t know. You don’t know anything,” Trump said.Reflecting on past administration decisions and strategic military actions against Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, Trump claimed that past strikes had saved the region from existential crisis.He asserted that if the US hadn’t “terminated the nuclear deal” reached under President Barack Obama, “you wouldn’t have Israel right now because they (Iran) would have had a nuclear weapon years ago.”The US President added that “if we didn’t do the B2 bombers knocking out the nuclear sites a year ago, one of the first things we did early in the administration, they [Iran] would have a nuclear weapon, and you wouldn’t have Israel,” adding, “And in my opinion, you wouldn’t have various other countries in the Middle East [as] they would have been terminated, extinguished.”Issuing an explicit warning against any attempt by Tehran to rebuild its nuclear infrastructure, Trump reiterated that Washington will take decisive military action.”How about these people? They’re in this because of nuclear weapons, and they’re trying to possibly reconstitute a site? We’ll hit that site. Any site where they’re even thinking about nuclear — we’ll be hitting it very, very powerfully,” he warned.Addressing freedom of navigation and security in the Strait of Hormuz, Trump warned Iran against targeting commercial vessels.”Iran’s been given every opportunity to negotiate, to show that they’re reasonable on the Strait of Hormuz–but if they’re going to shoot at commercial shipping, then we’re going to hit them 10x harder. Every night, we’re degrading them further and further,” he said.Addressing the recent strikes, President Trump acknowledged that Iranian forces “did slip something through in Jordan” before announcing he will travel to Dover Air Force Base to pay his respects to fallen US service members killed by the regime’s recent attacks.”They did slip something through in Jordan. And if we had other operators, you know, it would have- would not have happened, unfortunately,” he noted.Asked if he believes Tehran is trying to affect the midterm elections by threatening access to the Strait of Hormuz, Trump told reporters, “They won’t have any impact on me. I’m just going to do the right thing.””I don’t view it as ‘Gee we’re having an election in a period of time.’ … No, the election — I can’t think about that having to do with this,” he added.Meanwhile, the US Department of War has identified the service member killed during the controlled detonation of an Iranian one-way attack drone at Erbil Air Base in Iraq.According to Fox News, Sgt. Michael Emmanuel Swinton, 30, of Fayetteville, North Carolina, died on July 19 during the operation. The Department of War released his photograph as the military honors his service and sacrifice.On the other hand, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian stated earlier in the day that “the level of communication” with the Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has been increasing every day.Speaking at the National Industry and Mining Day ceremony, Pezeshkian said, “Now, with increased communication and greater access to our beloved leader, all measures have been organised based on his instructions,” adding that Iranians “need the support of the Supreme Leader” and affirming, “We will continue the path with strength.”The remarks come as tensions in the Gulf continue to escalate following maritime targeted attacks amid the ongoing conflict between Iran and the US.Kuwait’s Deputy Foreign Minister summoned the Iranian Ambassador to protest Iran’s attack on the Kuwaiti oil tanker Keifan while it was transiting the Strait of Hormuz, official news agency KUNA reported.This came after Kuwait’s General Staff stated that its air defence systems intercepted hostile missile & drone attacks following the Iranian aggression for the fourth consecutive day.Kuwait has stated that in the continued “sinful” Iranian strikes, the nation’s power and water desalination plants were subjected to attacks on Monday evening, resulting to fires in number of facilities.In a statement released by the Kuwait’s Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy said that the Iranian attacks, which continued for the fourth consecutive day, caused fire to break out in numerous facilities. The Ministry said that the emergency operations helped contain the fire, adding that an assessment of the damage and the ways to rehabilitate the facilities is being done.”The Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy announces that amid the continued sinful Iranian aggression against the State of Kuwait, several power and water desalination plants were subjected to attacks yesterday evening–for the fourth consecutive day–resulting in fires breaking out in a number of their facilities,” the statement read.The Ministry stated that resultingly, “a number of generating units have been taken out of service in accordance with established precautionary operational procedures to ensure the safety of equipment and the stability of both the electrical and water systems.”Meanwhile, alarm sirens were activated across Bahrain as well. The Ministry of Interior of Bahrain requested citizens and residents to remain calm, proceed to the nearest safe location, and follow updates through official government channels.This comes as Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its armed forces targeted multiple US-linked assets across the Gulf region, including what they described as the destruction of an American missile defence radar system and an F-15 aircraft inside a shelter in Jordan, as well as an attack on Amazon’s central data infrastructure in Bahrain.In a series of announcements issued by the IRGC and the Iranian Army and carried by Iran’s state broadcaster Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), the IRGC stated that its strikes came as part of “Operation Nasr 2”, while the Iranian Army targeted the assets as under “Operation Lightning”.The IRGC claimed that its forces had attacked a compound housing US military personnel in Jordan’s Rukban region, alleging that several soldiers were killed.IRGC also claimed that an MQ-9 drone hangar at Ali Al-Salem in the Kuwait base was hit, damaging or destroying several drones.The Iranian Army further claimed that HIMARS missile systems belonging to US forces at the Arifjan base in Kuwait were targeted with surface-to-surface missiles.Responding to the attacks, the United Arab Emirates strongly condemned the repeated Iranian attacks against Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan, recognising them as “flagrant violations of sovereignty.”The Ministry further reaffirmed solidarity with Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan, extending “support for all measures aimed at safeguarding their security and stability.”However, Iranian strikes came as retaliation after the United States launched another round of attacks against Iran.The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) said that the US forces had completed another fresh round of strikes against Iran, marking the 10th consecutive night of military operations aimed at degrading Tehran’s military capabilities linked to attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.In a statement issued on Monday, CENTCOM said the latest strikes concluded at 9 pm ET on July 20 and targeted Iranian military command centres, maritime capabilities, missile and drone launch sites, and air defence systems.”U.S. forces struck Iranian military command centers, maritime capabilities, missile and drone launch sites, and air defense systems to degrade Iran’s ability to continue attacking commercial vessels flowing through the Strait of Hormuz,” the statement added.CENTCOM said commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz continues despite the ongoing tensions.”Commercial vessel transits through the vital international maritime corridor continue. Since early May, CENTCOM forces have helped facilitate the transit of approximately 900 commercial vessels and 450 million barrels of crude oil,” it said.Reaffirming the US military’s posture in the region, CENTCOM said American forces remain prepared to respond to threats against civilian maritime traffic.The United States has said its strikes are aimed at reducing Iran’s ability to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, while Iran has described its operations as retaliatory measures against US attacks and military presence in the region. (ANI)(This content is sourced from a syndicated feed and is published as received. The Tribune assumes no responsibility or liability for its accuracy, completeness, or content.)