By Anjali Sharma
WASHINGYON – US President Donald Trump on Monday issued a stern warning to Iranian “fast attack ships”, stated any ships that come close to the blockade will be eliminated using the same system that the US military uses against drug dealers.
He said that US Navy’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz came into effect on Monday.
Trump said that while the US has “completely obliterated” the Iranian Navy during the war, the country still has a small number of “fast attack ships”.
He wrote on Truth Social that Iran’s Navy is laying at the bottom of the sea, completely obliterated 158 ships. What we have not hit are their small number of, what they call, “fast attack ships,” because we did not consider them much of a threat”.
Trump warned, “If any of these ships come anywhere close to our BLOCKADE, they will be immediately ELIMINATED, using the same system of kill that we use against the drug dealers on boats at Sea.”
His warning came after Iran threatened to target all ports in the Persian Gulf.
Iran’s Lieutenant Colonel Ebrahim Zolfaqari in a statement said that any threat to the country’s ports would trigger “a broader regional response.”
Trump announced that the US Navy will blockade the Strait of Hormuz and all ships that sail through the chokepoint waterway after paying toll to Iran will not be allowed to cross after the failure of Islamabad talks.
Iran said that it considers the “defense of the country’s national rights a natural and lawful obligation, including the exercise of sovereignty in the country’s territorial waters.”
Zolfaqari reiterated the Iranian position, stressed that protection of maritime security in Iranian waters will continue decisively, reported Press TV.
“Enemy-affiliated vessels do not and will not have the right to pass through the Strait of Hormuz,” he added.
It added, “The Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran clearly and firmly declare that the security of ports in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman is either for everyone or for no one. If the security of the ports of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the waters of the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman is threatened, no port in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman will be safe.”
The Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters statement also stressed that Tehran will continue to “ensure security in its territorial waters”, adding that no enemy vessels will be allowed to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.
“Ensuring security in the territorial waters of the Islamic Republic of Iran by the armed forces will continue with determination, and as has been repeatedly announced, enemy-affiliated vessels do not and will not have the right to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, and other vessels will continue to be allowed to pass through the Strait, subject to the regulations of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s armed forces,” the statement added.
