WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Washington is “going to beat the fucking shit” out of Iran in response to Tehran’s overnight attacks on US targets in the region.

Fighting between the United States and Iran briefly paused over the weekend when Trump abruptly called off a two-week US bombing campaign and Iran appeared to also halt its strikes on the region. The exchange of fire was the largest flare-up of the Iran war since an April ceasefire paused the conflict.

But the US and Saudi Arabia launched airstrikes on pro-Iran militias in eastern Iraq on Wednesday, just hours after the US military said its air defenses had averted a surprise Iranian attack on US troops in the region, in an apparent sign that conflict had reignited.

“We’ll be hitting them hard. They’re going to get a beating,” Trump told Fox News in a phone interview, during which he also made the profane threat on Tehran.

Trump also said troops had just minutes to shoot down the Iranian strike targeting US forces in Jordan.

Commenting on the US-Saudi strikes against pro-Iranian militia groups in Iraq, Trump said they were coordinated with the Iraqi government. He called the pro-Iranian militia groups a “cancer on the world.”

Despite the apparent resumption of conflict with Iran, Trump said he is going to allow US negotiators to continue holding talks with Iran, though the recent strikes stopped some diplomatic efforts, and Iran took a defiant tone in discussing the talks. Israel is not party to the negotiations and has not participated in the recent round of fighting.

Asked about his meeting this week with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump reiterated his earlier characterization that it went very well, adding that the Israeli premier “understands now,” without elaborating on what he meant.

Strikes put damper on diplomacy

A planned visit to Saudi Arabia by Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi has been indefinitely postponed following the exchange of fire, two Iraqi government officials said on condition of anonymity.

The meeting was called off after Saudi Arabia took part in the US strikes targeting Iraq’s Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Forces paramilitary group. At least 20 members of the militia were killed in the strikes, it said.

US-Saudi........

© The Times of Israel