Trump threatens a major attack, claims US is extracting Iranian oil

President Donald Trump said on Monday that the United States will hit Iran "very hard" if a peace deal is not reached, and said the United States is pulling oil out of Iran. "We're going to hit them, we're going to hit them very hard," Trump told reporters at the White House, referring to Iran's shooting down of an Apache helicopter in the Strait of Hormuz.

The US president reiterated that Iran would be hit today, Reuters reported. He also said that the United States is extracting oil from Iran.

"Today is the first time I'm announcing this, but we're taking out millions of barrels of oil, millions of barrels every night," Trump said, adding that Iran "is just now figuring it out."

"Millions of barrels of oil have been taken out and that's why the price is $85 to $90 a barrel, instead of $250," Trump said, without providing other details about the operations.

Trump said the United States is still trying to reach an agreement.

"We want a deal that makes sense, we want a deal that works," Trump added, speaking about negotiations with Iran.

Trump said that Iran has already agreed not to acquire nuclear weapons, but that the agreement has yet to be signed.

After Trump's statements today, oil prices rose and stock markets fell.

Iran has carried out missile and drone attacks on US bases in Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain, which it called retaliation for US strikes on Iranian targets around the Strait of Hormuz.

The US military said it had targeted Iranian air defenses, ground control stations and surveillance radar sites in what it described as a "proportionate response" to the downing of the helicopter, whose two crew members were rescued by a drone boat.

Iran's Gulf neighbors and Jordan activated air defenses to intercept incoming missiles.

Asked about the Iranian attacks on US bases, a US official told Reuters: "There is no significant damage. There are no injuries to US personnel. Almost all of the missiles and drones were intercepted or did not reach their intended targets."

The exchange of fire, which came after Trump said Iran had shot down a US Apache helicopter near the strait, represents one of the most significant escalations since Washington and Tehran agreed to a ceasefire in April.