Trump says more coming as U.S., Iran trade strikes for first time in weeks

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the Trump administration's new economic pressure campaign aims to drive Iran back to the negotiating table.

"The goal here is to create the conditions that they will want to come to the table," Bessent told CNBC on the sidelines of a meeting in North Carolina with finance ministers from the 20 largest economies in the world. "And the president's been very clear: They have to give up their nuclear program, they have to turn over the highly enriched uranium, and they have to stop their support of proxies, and the strait has to be open."

When he was told that increased economic hardship on people in Iran might not influence the regime, Bessent said, "My experience with people like this, the main thing they care about is their head staying attached to their neck."

Vice President JD Vance said President Trump was sending a message to Iran when he posted an AI-generated video suggesting the U.S. had attacked Iran's strategic Kharg Island.

"We know that they continue to shoot at commercial shipping," Vance told reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. "We continue to have a lot of tools at our disposal to prevent them from doing so, or at least cut down on them from doing so, and that's what the president is saying is, 'Look, you guys are shooting at commercial shipping. You guys are behaving like a terrorist country. You've got to stop or there are going to be some consequences.'"

Mr. Trump shared the video on Sunday - a clip from the viewpoint of a helicopter as huge explosions around what looks like oil infrastructure are seen in the background. His only message with the video was: "Kharg Island being blown to smithereens!!!"

The government of Qatar issued a statement Monday condemning "renewed attacks by the Islamic Republic of Iran targeting" Jordan with missiles and the United Arab Emirates with a drone.

Qatar's foreign ministry called the Iranian attacks — which officials in Jordan and the UAE said were all intercepted — "a blatant violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the two states, and a flagrant breach of international law, the Charter of the United Nations, and the principles of good neighborliness."

Iran said it had targeted U.S. forces in the two Middle Eastern states in response to the first American attacks in weeks, which came Sunday as U.S. Central Command said Iranian rocket launchers and sea mines were destroyed in strikes on Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz.

Iranian officials said the U.S. strikes killed two people and left several others wounded.

"The continuation of these attacks represents a dangerous escalation that would complicate efforts aimed at containing tensions and undermine political and diplomatic efforts seeking to achieve security and stability in the region," Qatar's foreign ministry said, adding a call for "an immediate and complete cessation of all military actions and attacks that threaten the security and stability of the region."

President Trump said Monday that the U.S. would retaliate for Iran's attacks on Sunday targeting Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, according to Fox News' Trey Yingst, who quoted Mr.