A pause in fighting between the U.S. and Iran came to a screeching halt after Tehran launched what the Trump administration is calling a "surprise attack" that American forces in the Middle East had only minutes to shoot down.

The July 28 ballistic missile assault threatened to reinvigorate a conflict that President Donald Trump has aimed to wind down after months of negotiations. Trump vowed the U.S. would "beat the f------ s--- out of them," he told Fox News. The latest attacks raised fears of a wider war as Saudi Arabia joined the conflict and Iran seeks to test Trump's resolve with the midterm elections looming.

Trump's promised retaliatory strikes on Iran began at about 8 p.m. ET on July 29. Central Command, the arm of the military overseeing operations in the Middle East, announced the attacks, calling them "powerful response to yesterday’s attempted Iranian attacks on U.S. forces."

"We're going to be hitting them very hard because it's our turn to hit them. They know it's coming," Trump had told reporters earlier at the White House.

More...