Trump orders US Navy to ‘shoot down and destroy’ Iranian boats that ‘harass’ US ships

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — US President Donald Trump claims to have instructed the country’s Navy to attack Iranian gunboats that “harass” US ships at sea, following escalated tensions between the two states in the Persian 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 said in a tweet on Wednesday.

The president’s apparent order comes a week after a tense encounter between the US Navy’s Bahrain-based 5th Fleet and vessels belonging to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN).

While the US navy claimed that eleven Iranian vessels allegedly made “dangerous and harassing approaches” to American warships while they were “conducting joint integration operations”, Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said it was “the unprofessional and provocative actions of the United States and their indifference to warnings” that caused the hostile encounter.

Trump’s instructions come the same day the Revolutionary Guard claims it has successfully launched a satellite into orbit.

"The first satellite of the Islamic Republic of Iran has been successfully launched into orbit," said the Guards' Sepahnews website, adding that the satellite is orbiting "the Earth at 425 kilometres (264 miles)" above sea level.

Launched from the country’s Markazi desert, the satellite has been named the Noor, which means light in Farsi.

Iran has repeatedly tried to launch satellites in the past, but with little success.

The attempted launch of the Zafar – “Victory” in Farsi – came just days before the 41st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution and parliamentary elections in Iran in February of this year.

Iran’s space ambitions have previously been criticized by the US, who say the program would strengthen Iran’s ballistic missile capabilities. Iran claims its program complies with international law.

The space program has also been met with disapproval by Israel, the US’s strongest ally in the region.

Israeli foreign ministry spokesperson Lior Haiat called Wednesday’s satellite launch “a façade for Iran’s continued development of advanced missile technology.”

The latest spike in decades-long acrimony between Tehran and Washington followed the US drone strike in Iraq that killed Iranian general Qasem Soleimani and Iran’s retaliatory fire of ballistic missiles at US bases in January of this year.

Washington has blamed attacks launched on bases hosting US troops in Iraq on Iran-aligned elements of the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) military network formally integrated into Iraq’s security forces.

The US has deployed Patriot air defense batteries to Iraqi bases to protect American troops recently targeted by Iranian missiles.

A long-running point of contention between the two countries has been Washington’s unilateral withdrawal from the landmark 2015 nuclear deal, aimed at curbing Tehran’s nuclear ambitions in return for sanctions relief.

The global financial dominance of the US dollar has meant the deal’s European, Russian and Chinese signatories have been able to do little to alleviate pressure on Iran’s economy from crushing economic sanctions imposed by Washington soon after its withdrawal from the nuclear accord.

In response, Iran has begun a gradual abandonment of its commitments to the deal - moves that Tehran has argued are reversible if sanctions relief is provided.

Iran announced in January that it would no longer comply with restrictions on nuclear enrichment, the latest move in undermining the landmark deal.

The US has been heavily criticized by human rights watchdogs and activists alike for the dire effect its sanctions are said to be having on Iran’s ability to respond to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, which has claimed 5,391 lives since the outbreak began.

According to Iran analyst Ariane M. Tabatabai Trump’s sanctions and the global pandemic have, “exacerbated the effects of Iran’s own incompetence and corruption, leading to significant discontent among the populace.”

Additional reporting by AFP

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