Iran responds to Donald Trump’s threat, says it will target US ships that endanger its boats in Gulf

Trump ordered the US Navy to destroy any Iranian boats that harassed US ships in the Persian Gulf

This comes after Iran launched a military satellite and amid escalating tensions between the two countries

Reading Time:3 minutes

Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN) vessels are seen close to the USS Paul Hamilton and other US military ships, crossing the ships’ bows and sterns at close range while operating in international waters of the north Gulf. Photo: AFP

Published: 10:00pm, 23 Apr 2020Updated: 12:54am, 24 Apr 2020

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards chief on Thursday warned the United States of a “decisive response” after President Donald Trump said he ordered the US Navy to destroy Iranian boats that harass American ships in the Gulf.

Iran and the United States have appeared to be on the brink of an all-out confrontation twice in the past year.

Decades-old acrimony between the two sides worsened in 2018 when Trump unilaterally withdrew from a deal that gave Iran relief from sanctions in return for curbs on its nuclear programme.

A US Navy photo shows Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN) vessels near the guided-missile destroyer USS Paul Hamilton (DDG 60) and other US military ships in the Gulf. Photo: AFP

Tensions escalated further in January when a US air strike killed Qassem Soleimani, the top Iranian general who headed the Guards’ foreign arm, the Quds Force.

“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,” Major General Hossein Salami said. “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.”

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x