International
Trump instructs US Navy to ‘shoot down and destroy’ Iranian gunboats
United States President, Donald Trump, said Wednesday he had instructed the Navy to “shoot down and destroy” any Iranian gunboats that “harass” American ships following last week’s “provocative encounter” in the Persian Gulf.
News of Trump’s order, shared in a morning tweet, came a week after the US military said 11 small vessels belonging to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps conducted “dangerous and harassing approaches” toward a fleet of American ships, including the USS Lewis B. Puller, an expeditionary mobile base vessel, and the USS Paul Hamilton, a destroyer.
Washington Post reports that Iran’s Revolutionary Guard later acknowledged it had a tense encounter with the US warships but alleged without evidence that American forces initiated the episode.
“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 said in his tweet.
In a subsequent tweet, Trump suggested that his administration would adopt a tougher posture toward such incidents than the Barack Obama administration had.
READ ALSO: Panic as Brazilian president coughs repeatedly while speaking to supporters
“Sleepy Joe thought this was OK. Not me!” Trump said, referencing former vice president Joe Biden, now the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.
An Iranian armed forces spokesman said Trump’s focus was misplaced.
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