Donald Trump has threatened that Iran will be “blown off the face of the earth” if it attacks US vessels attempting to reopen a route through the Strait of Hormuz. The US president made the remarks in a Fox News interview on Monday, describing the ongoing US naval operation as “one of the greatest military maneuvers ever done”.
The US launched the operation on Monday to assist hundreds of ships trapped with their crews in the Gulf, escalating tensions in the region. Tehran has sought to reassert its blockade of the vital waterway, through which about a fifth of international oil supplies usually travel.
The US military claimed to have destroyed six Iranian small boats and intercepted both Iranian cruise missiles and drones, but Iran denied these claims. Over 800 ships and roughly 20,000 crew members remain stranded in the region.
Trump’s threats echo comments he made in April, when he warned that a “whole civilization will die” if Tehran failed to comply with his demands over the strait. His latest remarks call into question the fragile, Pakistan-brokered ceasefire that halted hostilities last month but failed to open the strait.
Earlier on Monday, Iran’s military central command warned it would strike any US naval vessel approaching the strait and claimed to have struck a US frigate with two missiles. US Central Command said it had redirected 50 commercial vessels amid the ongoing blockade.
