The latest threat of escalation comes as the US announced joint strikes with Saudi Arabia on Iraq. “We’re going to beat the f****** s*** out of them,” Trump told Fox’s Trey Yingst. The threat was in response to Iran firing missiles at the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan, U.S. Central Command’s (CENTCOM) headquarters in the country. But Iran hadn’t agreed to a truce, and last week rejected an attempt at diplomacy by the U.S. via Iraq. Trump has made numerous maximalist threats that never came to fruition, often seemingly using them as a tactic to force Iran to the negotiation table.