President Donald Trump has been blindsided by a “surprise attack” from Iran, days after he had temporarily paused his war on the country.
U.S. Central Command announced on Tuesday that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces launched “multiple ballistic missiles” from Iran as part of an “attempted surprise attack” on American forces based in the Middle East.
“All Iranian missiles were successfully intercepted. U.S. forces remain vigilant and at a high state of readiness,” the statement read.
The attacks come just one day after Trump, 80, said the U.S. had stopped bombing Iran last Friday because the regime “wanted to talk.”
Iran’s foreign ministry denied that claim, saying they were not interested in direct negotiations.
Speaking on Fox News on Tuesday morning, Trump was asked about his statement, given Iran’s response.
“Well, they just came out and said we are talking a little while ago,” Trump insisted.
“For some reason, we can be in the middle of a beautiful discussion, and they’ll come out and say ‘We’re not talking’ or ‘We didn’t discuss nuclear.’ Well, that’s all we discussed because they’ll never have a nuclear weapon. They understand that.”
Axios reported that the ballistic missiles launched by Iran targeted a U.S. military base located in Jordan.
Video obtained by CNN and aired on Tuesday also appears to show interceptors stopping Iranian missiles over Jordan, where three U.S. service members were killed earlier this month.
Trump met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday at the White House to discuss the conflict. Trump’s war ally came to America for the funeral of Republican war hawk Lindsey Graham.
On Tuesday, CNN cited sources who claimed Netanyahu wanted to share fresh Israeli intelligence that reportedly found Iran was moving centrifuges and enriched uranium to Pickaxe Mountain. The heavily fortified facility is believed to be the centerpiece of its future nuclear ambitions.
But Trump dismissed the new Israeli intelligence in a Fox News interview on Tuesday, before their White House meeting.
“I don’t need Bibi [Netanyahu] to tell me that. Bibi’s telling me that because he wants me to stay involved,” Trump said.
“I heard Bibi announce that. I said `Why didn’t you just tell it to me? Why do you have to announce it to the world?’ I know exactly what’s going on at Pickaxe, it’s not a big problem.”
U.S. Central Command also announced on Tuesday that fighter jets from Saudi Arabia had joined with America in joint military strikes on Iranian proxy forces in Iraq.
They said the precision strikes were against ”Iran-aligned terrorists that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) directed to attack U.S. forces and Saudi energy infrastructure."
Central Command added, “The unwarranted attacks against U.S. forces were not successful.”
There were over 600 attempted attacks on U.S. citizens and facilities in Iraq by Iran-aligned militias between February and April, according to Central Command.
