"If We Need to Negotiate with Bombs, We'll Negotiate with Bombs": Hegseth Pledges Strikes on Key Facilities as U.S. Hits Iran for Second Straight Night

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, leaving CENTCOM headquarters in Tampa, told reporters: "If we need to negotiate with bombs, we'll negotiate with bombs. And we're very good at it." The U.S. launched strikes on Iran for a second consecutive night — 49 Tomahawk missiles hitting targets as close as 40 miles from Tehran. The strikes destroyed Iran's water reservoirs in Hormozgan Province, leaving 20,000 people without drinking water in 50°C heat. Weapons experts identified fragments as U.S. GBU-39 munitions. Iran retaliated with strikes on U.S. bases in Kuwait, Jordan, and Bahrain. Trump from the Situation Room — with Vance, Kushner, and Witkoff — told Fox News: "If Iran doesn't agree to a deal, we'll bomb the shit out of them tomorrow night." He threatened to target bridges and power plants. CPI hit 4.2% — a three-year high driven by war-fueled energy costs. Brent crude: $94/barrel. The April 8 ceasefire is functionally dead. The war Trump said would last four to five weeks is now at fifteen.

On June 10, 2026 — fifteen weeks into a war the president said would last four to five — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stood outside CENTCOM headquarters in Tampa, Florida, and told reporters the United States would "negotiate with bombs."

"Negotiate with bombs"

Hegseth had just reviewed the night's attack plans with CENTCOM commander Admiral Bradley Cooper. He told reporters:

"CENTCOM will be busy tonight because President Trump said we will be hitting Iran hard, and we will be."

"If we need to negotiate with bombs, we'll negotiate with bombs. And we're very good at it. Nobody better in the world."

He mocked Iran's negotiators: "They've been tap-tap-tapping. Instead, they're going to have tap, tap, tap bombs dropping on key facilities in Iran from the United States of America."

When a reporter asked how striking bridges and electrical infrastructure wouldn't constitute a potential war crime, Hegseth called the question "disingenuous" and did not rule out such strikes.

Two nights of strikes

The escalation followed the downing of a U.S. Army AH-64 Apache helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz on Monday by an Iranian drone. Both crew members were rescued uninjured. The U.S. response:

Tuesday — first night

Nearly 20 targets hit inside Iran
Targeted: air defenses, radar sites, ground control stations

Wednesday — second night (5:15 PM ET)

CENTCOM launched "additional self-defense strikes"
49 Tomahawk missiles struck targets as close as 40 miles from Tehran
Targeted: ammunition depots, command nodes, warehouses, surveillance systems, communications, air defense
U.S. Marine Corps, Air Force, and Navy assets fired precision munitions
Iran reported explosions in Bandar Abbas, Qeshm, Gorgan, and Hengam

The water reservoirs

Among the targets: two concrete drinking water reservoirs in the Bamani district of Sirik County, Hormozgan Province — 629 miles from Tehran. The result:

20,000 residents lost access to safe drinking water
The facilities supplied the city of Kouhestak and ten surrounding villages
The region was experiencing 50°C (122°F) extreme heat
Iran is already battling a multi-year drought that has depleted aquifers and dried up rivers

CNN geolocated photos of the destroyed reservoirs to southern Iran. Weapons experts identified munition fragments as U.S.-made GBU-39 series precision-guided bombs. This is a precision weapon — it hits what it's aimed at.

Iran's water industry spokesman Isa Bozorgzadeh called it a war crime. International humanitarian law classifies drinking water installations as civilian property that cannot be targeted. This was not the first incident — on March 7, a U.S. strike destroyed a desalination plant on Qeshm Island, cutting water to 30 villages.

Iran retaliates

Iran struck back with missiles and drones targeting U.S. installations:

Al-Azraq Air Base in Jordan — 5 incoming missiles shot down
Ali Al-Salem Air Base in Kuwait — intercepted
U.S. Navy Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain — targeted with a reported new type of attack drone

All were intercepted. No U.S. casualties were reported. Iran declared the Strait of Hormuz closed to all traffic. CENTCOM denied it, saying commercial ships continued to transit.

Trump from the Situation Room

Trump called Fox News' Trey Yingst from the Situation Room, where he sat with VP Vance, Jared Kushner, and envoy Steve Witkoff:

"If Iran doesn't agree to a deal, we'll bomb the shit out of them tomorrow night."

He said Iranian officials had called and asked for the bombing to stop. He claimed the U.S. was "just days away from a deal" — a phrase he has used repeatedly for weeks.

On infrastructure threats: "I'm not going to say that to you, but I can do that" — when asked if he would target power plants and bridges. He said he "may keep going" with such strikes.

On Truth Social: "Iran is all talk and no action. The Bully of the Middle East is DEAD!!!" And: "Praise be to Allah!"

The oil tanker

CENTCOM confirmed U.S. aircraft fired on the M/T Settebello, a Palau-flagged tanker transporting Iranian oil near the Strait of Hormuz. The ship had ignored calls to comply with the U.S. blockade. CENTCOM shared video showing aircraft striking the engine, leaving the vessel disabled with heavy smoke. India's foreign ministry said 21 crew were rescued but 3 Indian mariners remained missing. India called the targeting of commercial shipping "deeply worrisome."

The ship was part of Russia's shadow fleet — previously named Hana, per Lloyd's List.

The economic damage

The war's cost to Americans, measured in numbers released this same week:

CPI rose 4.2% year-on-year in May — a fresh three-year high, up from 3.8% in April
Brent crude: ~$94/barrel — up more than 30% since the war began (Trump claimed $85; CBS noted the actual price)
The S&P 500 down 4.5% and Nasdaq down 7.1% since June 2 highs
Gas prices above $4/gallon nationally
The Fed postponed planned rate cuts
The ECB warned of stagflation and technical recession in Germany and Italy

Analyst Art Hogan: "The war with Iran seems to be getting longer not shorter; that doesn't help the psychology."

Moody's Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi: "The damage has already been done, in part because there's no going back on oil prices, at least not any time in the near future."

The ceasefire is dead

The April 8 ceasefire — mediated by Pakistan — is functionally over. The administration refuses to say so. Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baqaei accused the U.S. of "violating the ceasefire agreement and sending contradictory messages" and "damaging this diplomatic process."

Qatari negotiators arrived in Tehran for talks even as U.S. bombs were falling. The diplomatic and military tracks are operating simultaneously — which is what "negotiate with bombs" means in practice.

The timeline

February 28: U.S. and Israel launch strikes on Iran
March: Trump says the war will last four to five weeks
April 8: Ceasefire announced
June 1: Iran suspends all talks, vows to close Hormuz
June 9: Apache helicopter downed; U.S. launches retaliatory strikes
June 10: Second night of strikes; Iran retaliates against U.S. bases; Hegseth says "negotiate with bombs"; water reservoirs destroyed; oil tanker fired upon
Week 15 of a war that was supposed to last four to five

What this is

The defense secretary of the United States said "negotiate with bombs" out loud, on camera, and meant it as a selling point. The president threatened to "bomb the shit out of them" on a Fox News call from the Situation Room — with his son-in-law sitting next to him. Twenty thousand people lost their drinking water in 122-degree heat from a precision-guided American bomb. Inflation hit a three-year high. Oil is at $94. The ceasefire is dead but the administration won't say so. And the war that was supposed to last a month is in its fourth.

Iranian President Pezeshkian: "Critical infrastructures are the lifeblood of the people. Threatening them is not a show of strength but a sign of desperation in the face of a nation's will."

UN Human Rights Commissioner Volker Türk: "I am horrified by the fact that we see escalation upon escalation. Ceasefires need to be respected in full. International law needs to be respected in full."