Trump says Iranian ‘fast-attack’ ships that come close to US blockade will be eliminated
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US President Donald Trump said the ships would be dealt with the same way the US did with suspected drug boats in the Caribbean and Pacific.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump warned on April 13 that any Iranian “fast-attack” ships that go near a US maritime “blockade” on Iran would be eliminated, and he said the US would not allow Tehran to “extort the world.”
Mr Trump made the threat shortly after the US blockade on vessels entering and departing Iran had been due to come into effect at 2pm GMT on April 13 (10pm Singapore time).
Describing Iran's navy as "completely obliterated" during the six-week-long war between the US and Iran, Mr Trump posted on Truth Social: "What we have not hit are their small number of, what they call, 'fast attack ships,' because we did not consider them much of a threat."
"Warning: If any of these ships come anywhere close to our BLOCKADE, they will be immediately ELIMINATED, using the same system of kill that we use against the drug dealers on boats at Sea. It is quick and brutal," Mr Trump wrote.
Mr Trump was referring to the dozens of US strikes carried out against suspected drug boats in the Caribbean and Pacific since September in a campaign that has killed at least 110 people.
Iran has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, cutting off a vital waterway that normally carries about a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies, in response to US-Israeli strikes.
“We can’t let a country blackmail or extort the world,” Mr Trump told reporters at the White House.
Iran's conventional navy has largely been destroyed but Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps still have plenty of options including fast-attack craft, mini submarines, mines and even jet skis packed with explosives, said Mr Tom Sharpe, a retired Royal Navy commander, in March.
After agreeing to a two-week ceasefire that began last week, the US and Iran held talks in Pakistan over the weekend aimed at a settlement to the conflict. But they failed to reach an agreement.
A US official said on April 13 that there was continued engagement between the US and Iran and forward motion toward an agreement.
Mr Trump told reporters that the US is determined to curtail Iran’s nuclear ambitions and retrieve its fissile material, deal or not.
“If they don’t agree, there’s no deal. There’ll never be a deal. Iran will not have a nuclear weapon, and we’re going to get the dust back. We’ll get it back. Either we’ll get it back from them, or we’ll take it.” REUTERS
