Trump instructs Navy to ‘destroy’ Iranian vessels harassing US ships
By Mark Moore
New York Post
April 22, 2020
President Trump said he instructed the US Navy to “destroy” any Iranian gunboats if they hound American vessels.
“I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea,” the president said in a tweet on Wednesday, without providing more details.
The post comes a week after 11 Iranian gunboats harassed US Navy and Coast Guard ships in the Persian Gulf, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The Navy called Iran’s maneuvers “dangerous and provocative.”
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The boats, part of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps navy, approached within 10 yards of the Coast Guard cutter Maui, the report said, citing the US Navy.
The US ships responded by sending warnings through bridge-to-bridge radio and blasting horns.
After an hour, the Iranian boats backed off and “opened distance between them.”
The US ships had been conducting military exercises in that section of the Persian Gulf.
Tensions have been elevated in the Persian Gulf region since last year after Iran attacked a Saudi oil installation, shot down a US surveillance drone, and boarded several international ships.
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World War 3 Alert: Trump Orders US Navy to Sink Iranian Ships
Israel Today
April 22, 2020
Iran has threatened that in a war with America, it will first attack Israel.
Iranian gunboats have been harassing US Navy vessels and those of allied nations for the past several years. In 2016, the Islamic Republic went so far as to take 10 US sailors captive after their boats ventured into Iranian waters.
But such adventurism by the Iranians is now far more likely to spark a major confrontation, and possibly even a global war (some fear), after US President Donald Trump ordered his naval forces to no longer turn a blind eye to such harassment in the Persian Gulf.
“I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea,” Trump tweeted on Wednesday.
If it comes to that, the outbreak of major hostilities between Iran and the US are to be expected. While a regional war would be devastating for everyone, both Israel and the Arab states have long been pressing American to militarily confront Iran’s hegemonic aspirations in the Middle East.
Iran has repeatedly warned that one of its first actions in a war with the US would be to launch missiles at Israel.
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'All action will be met with a decisive response,' Iran warns US
i24NEWS
April 23, 2020
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps chief Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami vowed on Thursday that the military will deliver a "decisive response" to the US if any hostilities break out in the Persian Gulf.
"We declare to the Americans that we are absolutely determined and serious... and that all action will be met with a decisive response that will be efficient and quick," Salami told state television on Thursday.
The threat is the latest escalation in a long-simmering row between the two adversaries and comes just a day after US President Donald Trump authorized the Navy to open fire and "destroy" Iranian gunboats if they harass American warships in the Gulf.
"We have also ordered our naval units to target [US boats and forces] if they try to endanger the safety of our ships or boats of war," he added.
Trump took to Twitter Wednesday after Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they had launched the Islamic Republic's first military satellite.
The US president said he had "instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea."
Salami said last week's maritime incident was the result of "unprofessional and dangerous behavior by the Americans in the Persian Gulf."
The Guards commander also indicated that US actions in the sensitive waterway had been hampered by an outbreak of the novel coronavirus.
Iran and the United States are among the countries hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic.
2 comments:
How do you "shoot down" a boat? That being said I think Trump is probably right, the goat fuckers need to be encouraged to keep their distance. A couple of hundred 20mm shells from a close-in defense system would definitely do that.
There should be nothing left of their boats but debris and chum.
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