Donald Trump said Iran would be “blown off the face of the earth” if it attacked US vessels involved in a bid to reopen a route through the Strait of Hormuz, as Washington began an operation on Monday to assist hundreds of ships stranded with their crews in the Gulf.
The move has once again pushed the region to the brink of escalation, as Tehran sought to reassert its dominance over the strait — a key route for global trade — and maintain the blockade imposed by it. The US military said it had destroyed six Iranian small boats and intercepted Iranian cruise missiles and drones, a claim denied by Iran.
More than 800 ships and about 20,000 crew members remain stuck in the energy chokepoint in the Gulf.
In an interview with Fox News on Monday, Trump described the US naval effort as “one of the greatest military manoeuvres ever done” and said Iranian officials had been “far more malleable” in recent talks than before.
Addressing concerns over American weapons stockpiles, he told Fox News: “We have more weapons and ammunition at a much higher grade than we had before. We have the best equipment. We have stuff all over the world. We have these bases all over the world. They’re all stocked up with equipment. We can use all of that stuff, and we will, if we need it.”
Trump’s latest threat echoed remarks he made in April, when he warned that a “whole civilisation will die” if Tehran did not comply with his demands over the Strait of Hormuz. Those comments drew widespread domestic and international backlash.
His remarks also cast doubt on the fragile ceasefire brokered by Pakistan last month, which halted hostilities but did not reopen the Strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of global oil supplies typically pass.
