Trump: Sink Iranian boats
President Donald Trump warned the Iranian government yesterday that he has ordered the US navy to destroy any of its gunboats that threaten American warships in the Gulf.
The shoot-and-destroy pledge came in a tweet that appeared to take the Pentagon and US navy chiefs alike by surprise, hours after Iran had announced the successful launch of a military satellite.
‘‘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. The threat referred to an incident last week in which 11 Iranian fast gunboats operated by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps harassed six US warships in the Gulf for about an hour.
US navy Central Command stated after the confrontation on April 15 that the Iranian vessels had ‘‘repeatedly conducted dangerous and harassing approaches’’ while the US warships were performing airintegration exercises with army Apache attack helicopters in international waters.
Although the president is the commander-in-chief, there are strict rules of engagement governing all US warships in the Gulf. These rules, which are approved by General Frank MacKenzie, commander of US Central Command, and by the senior navy chain of command, specify at what point a warship can open fire. Radio warnings and a shot across the bows are normally the first two steps taken before a shot is fired in anger.
In last week’s incident the Iranian gunboats repeatedly crossed the bows and sterns of the US warships ‘‘at extremely close range and high speeds’’, according to the Pentagon. They came within ten metres of a US coastguard patrol ship, USCGC Maui, and 50 metres of USNS Lewis D Puller, an expeditionary mobile base vessel.
The other ships present were USS Paul Hamilton, an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, USS Sirocco and USS
Firebolt, both Cyclone-class patrol vessels, and another Coast Guard ship, USCGS Wrangell.
The confrontation ended without a shot being fired. The Iranian gunboats moved off after multiple warnings via bridge-tobridge radio and the sounding of horns.
Iran has described the US account of the incident as a ‘‘Hollywood’’ version. In response to Trump’s tweet, a spokesman for the Iranian military said: ‘‘Instead of bullying others the Americans should put their efforts toward saving members of their forces who are infected with coronavirus.’’
Senior Pentagon officials said that Trump’s comments were meant as a warning to Tehran, but suggested that the US military would follow their existing right to self-defence rather than any changes to their rules.