Trump tweets US will destroy Iranian gunboats harassing US ships

The tweet comes a week after vessels from Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps Navy came close to US ships in the Gulf. US President Donald Trump tweeted on Wednesday morning that he has instructed the United States Navy to “shoot down and destroy” Iranian gunboats that “harass” US ships.“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 tweeted.

Senior Pentagon officials said Trump’s comments were meant as a warning to Tehran but suggested that the US military would continue to abide by their existing right to self defence instead of changing their rules.“The president issued an important warning to the Iranians, what he was emphasising is all of our ships retain the right of self-defence,” Deputy Secretary of Defense David Norquist told reporters at the Pentagon. Following Trump’s tweet, an Iranian armed forces spokesman said the US should focus on saving its military from the coronavirus. “Today, instead of bullying others, the Americans should put all their efforts toward saving those members of their forces who are infected with coronavirus,” Abolfazl Shekarchi said, according to Iran’s semi-official ISNA news agency.

Trump’s comments on Wednesday came about a week after 11 vessels from the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps Navy came close to US ships.

On Sunday, the Revolutionary Guard acknowledged it had a tense encounter last week with US warships in the Gulf, but alleged without offering evidence that US forces sparked the incident.

Iranian and US vessels routinely have tense encounters in the Gulf and its narrow mouth, the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 percent of the world’s oil passes. Satellite launch

(arlier on Wednesday, the Revolutionary Guard said it had put the country’s first military satellite into orbit, dramatically unveiling what experts described as a secret space programme with a surprise launch that came amid wider tensions with the US. The satellite “orbited the (arth at 425km 264 miles@”, said the elite forces’ official website. “This action will be a great success and a new development in the field of space for Islamic Iran.” The launch immediately raised concerns among experts on whether the technology used could help Iran develop intercontinental ballistic missiles.