In the latest cycle of threats and concessions that have marked US President
Donald Trump’s approach to the war that he and his Israeli counterpart started against Iran, the mercurial leader said on Thursday he would destroy any undersized boats attempting to lay mines in the blocked Strait of Hormuz.
His focus on diminutive vessels followed his oft-repeated messaging that Iran’s larger naval vessels no longer exist as he renews his effort to muscle Tehran’s frustratingly resilient regime to concede defeat.
“I have ordered the United States Navy to shoot and kill any boat, small boats though they may be … that is putting mines in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz”, Trump wrote on social media, adding that Iran has no navy since “ALL 159 of them” are at the bottom of the sea.
The US military, meanwhile, has boosted its presence in the region with the arrival of a third aircraft carrier, the USS George H.W. Bush, in the Indian Ocean on Thursday. It joins the USS Gerald R. Ford, currently operating in the Red Sea, and the USS Abraham Lincoln, which is also in the region, according to US Central Command.
This massive naval presence provides the backdrop for Trump’s latest warning, which came as Israel signalled it too was ready to pile more pressure on Iran.
Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Thursday that Israel was “prepared to resume the war against Iran”, adding that his country was awaiting a green light from the United States to return Iran to a prehistoric state.