HAMILTON, Canada 

US President Donald Trump hailed military attacks against Iran on Thursday, saying Tehran is "paying a big price right now."

"The situation with Iran is moving along very rapidly, it's doing very well," Trump said at a Women's History Month event at the White House.

He said the US military is "unsurpassed. There has never been anything like it. Nobody's ever seen anything like it.”

Trump argued that the military action against Iran "should have been done during a 47-year period" and called it "a nation of terror and hate."

"They're paying a big price right now," he said.

He further praised his term as "successful," saying: "We did a lot of great things. We rebuilt our military."

"We're doing so well now with our military. I never thought I'd have to be using it so much," Trump said, pointing to military operations in Venezuela and Iran.

"It's been amazing," he added.

The escalation in the Middle East has intensified since Israel and the US launched a joint attack against Iran on Feb. 28, killing more than 1,300 people to date, including then-Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and over 150 schoolgirls.

Iran has retaliated with drone and missile strikes targeting Israel, Jordan, Iraq and Gulf countries hosting US military assets, killing at least eight US service members and injuring 140.