THE US HAS launched new strikes on Iran and President Donald Trump has warned bombing will increase significantly if Tehran continues to attack ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

Tehran’s military struck at least three ships in recent days, prompting extensive US strikes against Iranian targets on Tuesday, followed by retaliatory attacks from Iran on Gulf countries.

“This is in retribution for yesterday’s bombing of ships by Iran. If it happens again, it will get much worse!” the US president posted on social media over a picture of an apparent bombing of a site in Iran.

US Central Command said the strikes were carried out to degrade the ability of Iranian forces “to threaten freedom of navigation” in the strait, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas normally flows.

“The United States is holding Iran accountable for recent unjustified aggression against commercial shipping,” CENTCOM said on X.

Explosions were heard in multiple locations along the Iranian coast, state media said.

Warplanes were heard over Kish Island and multiple explosions rocked the port cities of Bandar Abbas, Konarak and Chabahar, part of which lost electricity, Iran’s official news agency IRNA reported.

Earlier today Trump said that the ceasefire with Iran is “over” and that he “doesn’t want to deal with them anymore, they’re scum”, prompting mediators Pakistan and Qatar and the United Nations to call for de-escalation.

Trump was speaking to reporters from a Nato summit in Ankara, as the fallout from his war with Iran overshadowed the key gathering in the capital of Turkey.

“We’re gonna hit ‘em hard tonight,” Trump said at the summit. “They violate the agreement every day.”

He added later, however, that “anything that happens is going to be over very quickly.”

With additional reporting from AFP.