President Trump has threatened to ‘complete the job’ and make sure ‘Iran will no longer exist’ in a warning message after fresh strikes on Iran.
“United States aircraft just struck Iranian missile and drone storage locations, and coastal radar sites, for violating the Cease Fire Agreement, AGAIN! It is very possible that they will never learn!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“There may come a point when we are no longer able to be reasonable, and will be forced to militarily complete the job that we very successfully started. If that happens, the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist!”
The warning comes after the US Central Command said it launched retaliatory strikes after Tehran allegedly attacked a commercial oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz using drones.
The US military said Saturday it had struck 10 targets in Iran at President Trump’s direction.
The US Central Command, in a post to social media, said that a US military aircraft targeted Iranian military “surveillance infrastructure, communication systems, air defense sites, drone storage facilities, and minelayer capabilities” after the attack on a merchant vessel early on Saturday morning.
The series of strikes in the Gulf highlight how despite the interim deal agreed by the US and Iran, there is risk that the war could again spiral out of control.
The ship struck by Iran was a Panama-flagged tanker M/T Kiku and was carrying more than 2 million barrels of crude oil near the strait.
The US military also launched strikes on Friday following reports of another attack against a cargo ship, the Singapore-flagged M/V Ever Lovely.
It claimed that “Iran had a chance to honour the ceasefire agreement” but “elected not to” when its forces attacked the Kiku.
Earlier this month, the two countries reached a ceasefire agreement and a memorandum of understanding preceding a potential peace deal but the Strait of Hormuz has remained a hot spot.
Despite an increase of commercial traffic, normal shipping is yet to be fully restored due to continued strikes.
Prior to Friday, Tehran claimed that attempts to cross the strait along a route designated by the UN’s International Maritime Organization would be “unacceptable and completely dangerous” and that ships needed to coordinate with Iran.