Trump tells Navy to shoot down Iranian gunboats

[OldTwilight]

Actually its Iran who wants destabilize middle east by rising tension with US to increase oil price.

We can't sell oil , so low oil price mean low resource for our enemies

 

[Arminkh]

Donald Trump orders Navy to 'shoot down and destroy' Iranian gunboats if they harass American ships in the Gulf in escalation of tensions with Tehran

• Donald Trump says any Iranian gunboats which 'harass' U.S. Navy vessels will be 'shot down'
• Warning on twitter comes as Iran's Revolutionary Guards say they have successfully launched their first satellite
• U.S. says the launches are cover for missile development
• Last week three U.S. vessels - a guided-missile destroyer, a Coastguard cutter and a supply vessel - were harassed off Kuwait
• Tensions have simmered between Washington and Tehran for months
• Trump linked his order to 'destroy'

By REUTERS and AFP and LUKE KENTON FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

PUBLISHED: 13:26 BST, 22 April 2020 | UPDATED: 16:17 BST, 22 April 2020

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President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he had instructed the U.S. Navy to fire on any Iranian ships that harass it at sea, a week after 11 vessels from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN) came dangerously close to U.S. ships in the Gulf.

'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 wrote in a tweet.

Trump did not cite a specific event in his tweet or provide details. The White House had no immediate comment.

The U.S. Navy's Bahrain-based 5th Fleet referred questions about the tweet to the Pentagon, and the Pentagon referred questions to the White House.


The tweet came amid a re-escalation of tension, with Iran's Revolutionary Guards saying hours earlier that that they had launched the country's first military satellite, which the U.S. regards as a cover for missile development.

Trump followed his attack by linking the order to his November re-election campaign, saying 'Sleepy Joe [Biden] thought this was OK. Not me!' over a video from an Iranian patrol boat apparently approaching a U.S. Navy ship, then he tweeted a cartoon attack on Barack Obama.

The current president has made attacking his predecessor on Iran to hurt Biden part of his re-election campaign, although explicitly linking it to military orders appears to be a new development.

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Warning: Donald Trump fired off a tweet aimed at Tehran telling them their boats would be 'shot down' if they harass U.S. Navy vessels

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Follow-up: Donald Trump linked his orders to 'destroy' Iranian patrol boats to his re-election campaign, accusing his Democratic rival Biden of being weak on Iran

Iranian vessels conduct unsafe maneuvers around U.S. Naval Forces













In Tehran General Abolfazl Shekarchi, a spokesman for Iran's armed forces, accused Trump of 'bullying' and said the American president should focus on taking care of U.S service members infected with the coronavirus.

The U.S. military had more than 2,600 confirmed cases of coronavirus as of last week, and at least two service members have succumbed to COVID-19.

'Today, Americans must do their best to save those troops who are infected with coronavirus instead of bullying others,' Shekarchi said, according to Iran´s semi-official news agency ISNA.

The country had hours earlier announced the launch of its first successful satellite - an activity the U.S. says is cover for a ballistic missile program.

'The first satellite of the Islamic Republic of Iran has been successfully launched into orbit by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps,' said the Guards' Sepahnews website.

It said the satellite - dubbed the Nour, which means light - had been launched from the Qassed two-stage launcher from the Markazi desert, a vast expanse in Iran's central plateau.

The satellite 'orbited the earth at 264 miles', said the website.

'This action will be a great success and a new development in the field of space for Islamic Iran,' the statement added.

The surprise operation comes more than two months after Iran launched but failed to put into orbit another satellite that it said had no military dimensions.

Washington says that these satellite launches defy a UN Security Council resolution on ballistic missiles.

U.S. officials fear that the launches could help Iran develop intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear weapons.

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Iran's Revolutionary Guards say they have launched the country's first military satellite. This picture shows the failed launch of the Zafar satellite on February 9

Iran maintains it has no intention of acquiring nuclear weapons, claiming its aerospace activities are peaceful and comply with the UN's orders.

It is not believed that Iran has the technology to miniaturize a nuclear weapon on a ballistic missile.

Israel, which Tehran refuses to recognise, called on the international community to condemn Iran's satellite launch. 'Israel calls upon the international community ... to impose further sanctions on the Iranian regime. All in order to deter it from continuing such dangerous and opposing activity,' Israel's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

And Trump's intervention is a week after nearly a dozen Iranian naval vessels repeatedly harassed and made 'dangerous' approaches to American ships conducting operations in the Persian Gulf near Kuwait in a tense exchange that last more than an hour.

A group of 11 ships with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps repeatedly crossed the bows and sterns of the U.S. Navy's Bahrain-based 5th Fleet at close range and high speeds - with one passing within just 10 meters of a Coast Guard cutter.

The 'dangerous and provocative actions increased the risk of miscalculation and collision,' a statement from U.S. Central Command said, adding that U.S commanders on the scene 'retain the inherent right to self-defense.'

The American vessels included the USS Paul Hamilton, a Navy destroyer; the USS Lewis B. Puller, a ship that serves as an afloat landing base; and the USCGC Maui. Coastguard vessels are part of U.S. forces in the Gulf.

The ships were operating with U.S. Army Apache attack helicopters in international waters, the statement said.

His command of English is ..... interesting as always: you don't "shoot down" boats you sink them.

 

[925boy]

They need the oil price to jump now. It's at $13/barrel. War is coming.

I have posted a lots of Iranian hogwash missile strikes on US base so lets not go there.

HUUUH???? Pls dont be one of those people.

Actually its Iran who wants destabilize middle east by rising tension with US to increase oil price.

No, i think Iran, like CHina in the SCS, sees recent COVID affections in the USN as affecting the US Navy's ability to operate and deter adversaries/them, so Iran is either testing that or taking advantage of that gap on the US military's side(at least i their perception). Same reason why CHina sent ships into Malaysia's EEZ once US aircraft carriers dissapeared from SCS.

Not new, he campaigned saying similar things about Iranian gun boats harassing US ships as far back as 2015.

Coming from the resolute desk now though.

Don't mess with Trump, Iran.

Iran already tested Trump 2-3 times and Trump either bluffed or backed down. Trump is a military dolt.

And a bluff as usual.
No New Orders Issued: U.S. Military Brass Clarifies Trump’s Iran Threat | The National Interest

Boooom...like i already said- Trump bluffs, but the Iranians have figured that out. He will move troops in, so we think it s a surge...and it is....but for 1 week....then the troops all go back to where they came from. He sent 2 Aircraft Carriers to the Persian Gulf, but now South China Sea is all exposed because he underresourced it with lack of actual ACs. THis Trump guy is dumb at government!! He keeps proving it.

 

[That Guy]

Nothing is going to happen. It's more bluster and election campaigning than actual orders.

 

[Sineva]

Not new, he campaigned saying similar things about Iranian gun boats harassing US ships as far back as 2015.

Coming from the resolute desk now though.

Don't mess with Trump, Iran.

LOL!!
An indian chumpist eh?.....why-oh-why am I not surprised?.I guess its all that hindu fascism...sorry hindu "nationalism" that seems to be doing the rounds in india these days,from what I hear its even more contagious than corona virus.

 

[Blue In Green]

Nothing is going to happen. It's more bluster and election campaigning than actual orders.

Yeah we can hope so but then again, he did almost bring the U.S. to the brink of war earlier in the year.

I don't think the verdicts really out on this one chief.

 

[Shams313]

LOL!!
An indian chumpist eh?.....why-oh-why am I not surprised?.I guess its all that hindu fascism...sorry hindu "nationalism" that seems to be doing the rounds in india these days,from what I hear its even more contagious than corona virus.

They worship trump, Don't u know???

 

[raptor22]

Well Persian gulf coral islands could use americans made warships as reef.

 

[Sineva]

They worship trump, Don't u know???

I am seriously getting that impression.

This is sort of how I picture modi and his hindutva clowns "HAIL MOGAMBO!!"

Poor old ghandi,he`s probably spinning like a nuclear turbojet in his tomb right now.

 

[Hack-Hook]

Well Persian gulf coral islands could use americans made warships as reef.

hope not , it depend on what sort of titanium they use but if it reduce to TiO2 then that is toxic to reefs

 

[raptor22]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1253268691577380867

hope not , it depend on what sort of titanium they use but if it reduce to TiO2 then that is toxic to reefs

Not know that thanks but Q is : Then what? ask them to leave kindly 'cause titanium might be toxic to reefs?

 

[Shams313]

What we r even doing in there??? those green and red flag...

I am seriously getting that impression.

This is sort of how I picture modi and his hindutva clowns "HAIL MOGAMBO!!"

Poor old ghandi,he`s probably spinning like a nuclear turbojet in his tomb right now.

 

[Hack-Hook]

Not know that thanks but Q is : Then what? ask them to leave kindly 'cause titanium might be toxic to reefs?

don't knew , sink them outside Persian gulf , for the one in Persian gulf send them to dry dock for extended period of time . or perhaps just avoid war, like walking on a rope keeping a fragile balance not too push to hard and not to pull back too much

 

[Sineva]

View attachment 626547

What we r even doing in there??? those green and red flag...

LOL!
Sorry man I didnt even see that.
Evidently Modi......I mean Mogambo king of india seems to prefer the Bangladeshi flag to the old indian one.

 

[raptor22]

don't knew , sink them outside Persian gulf , for the one in Persian gulf send them to dry dock for extended period of time . or perhaps just avoid war, like walking on a rope keeping a fragile balance not too push to hard and not to pull back too much

Not a fan of war & hope it ain't gonna happen but I can not accept to see a bunch of pirates seek disturbing our daily life in our home ...