Trump threatens to hit Iranian bridges, power plants, any time shots fired in Strait of Hormuz

This will happen "from this point forward, any time the Islamic Republic of Iran shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz," he stated.

This will be regardless of whether Iran fired a "missile, rocket, drone, or any other device or weapon," the president said.

Trump's comments came while en route to Dover Air Force Base, Maryland, to receive the four US soldiers who were killed by Iran while posted to Jordan.

"We cannot, we must not, allow Iran to have nuclear weapons. They will not have nuclear weapons," Trump said before departing for Dover AFB.

"We’re going to pay our respects to them, and that’s one of the hardest things for me to do. As a person who serves as president, it’s one of the hardest things, but it has to be done," he said of the responsibility to receive the soldiers' remains.

A reporter at the scene asked Trump how the soldiers were killed, querying about a report that Iran targeted the soldiers' quarters on Muwaffaq Salti Air Base.

"I don’t know. But they’re going to pay a very heavy price. They’re being hit hard. They’re being destroyed," Trump responded.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi addressed Trump's comments, saying that any attack by the United States against Iranian infrastructure will be answered with attacks against any country that aided the US.

"Our defense doctrine is clear: eye for an eye," he said.  "Those who contribute to such aggression, whatever the kind of support, will also be considered as legitimate targets."

US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in an X post later on Wednesday that it had successfully redirected nine ships in the Strait of Hormuz and disabled one vessel as part of US military efforts to ensure blockade compliance.

However, "when those commitments are not kept, which is what's happened in this particular case, then there will be consequences," he stated.

On Wednesday, Rubio was asked at a news conference to respond to comments made by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who said Israel has "no interest in joining the conflict between Iran and the US."

"I can’t comment on what some one individual in government said in Israel," said Rubio. "I can just generally tell you that, by and large, we think that a nuclear-armed Iran is an unacceptable thing. It can’t happen. And that’s what they were going to do, if they hid behind this conventional shield that they were building."

"Within two years, Iran could say: We’re breaking out to a nuclear weapon; you can’t do anything about it, or we’re going to overwhelm you with tens of thousands of drones and missiles, which they were on pace to build," Rubio added. "They can’t do that now."

Regarding the Strait of Hormuz, Rubio described Iran's targeting of civilian ships in the international waterway as "unacceptable."

"We’re not going to allow that to be the status quo," he said. "But ultimately, there are other countries that should feel just as strongly as we do, because they’re actually more impacted by it than we are."

Additionally, Homeland Security Advisor and White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Stephen Miller said that "Trump is the only American president who has had the courage, and the foresight, and the willingness to take this threat head on" during a Tuesday interview on Fox News.

"The results have been very clear: the regime has been eviscerated militarily, financially, politically—in every possible way," Miller added.

"That offramp's there, any time they want it, to make a deal and to honor and abide by that deal. But if they think they can cross America and get away with it, they and everyone watching around the world, has learned a very clear lesson about America and President Trump," he added.