Trump: Iran attacks in Gulf are 'out of control, they badly want to make a deal'

US President Donald Trump asserted on Thursday that Iran had reached out seeking an agreement, despite earlier declarations that the Memorandum of Understanding had ended.

"They have very little left, and they want to make a deal so badly," Trump told reporters on Air Force One following the NATO summit in Turkey.

"I just don't know if they're worthy of making a deal," Trump added. "I don't know that they're going to honor the deal, that's the problem."

He described Iran as "a little bit out of control," pointing to their assaults on vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. "If they want to make a deal, why do you think they attacked commercial vessels?"

In response to Iran's attacks, Trump stated that the United States would strike them "20-to-1."

"Every time they hit us, we're going to hit them 20," he said. "And we did it last night. They did a little something today, but it was really retribution for last night."

Trump mentioned that he was "number one" on Iran's list, adding that he was under threat "all the time."

"I'm number one on their list, before you - but if I go, you go, right? So perhaps some of you want to change professions," he joked to reporters.

US strikes Iran military targets

Trump's statements came after US Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed that the US military had completed a round of strikes early Thursday morning in Iran.

"CENTCOM forces hit approximately 80 Iranian military targets July 7, including more than 60 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps small boats, to impose heavy costs for Iran violating the ceasefire by attacking three commercial vessels navigating the Strait of Hormuz," CENTCOM said in a statement on X/Twitter.

One US official told The Jerusalem Post that "Everything depends on Iran's response. If they continue firing, what happened last night could become a daily or even weekly occurrence. We are prepared."

Esther Davis and Amichai Stein contributed to this report.