President Donald Trump has ordered the US Navy not to hesitate this time around, but rather to shoot to destroy if the Iranian Navy decides again to play chicken with the Americans in the Persian Gulf.
He made the announcement Wednesday in a tweet, saying he has “instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea.”
Iranian armed forces spokesperson Abolfazl Shekarchi said in response, “Today, instead of bullying others, the Americans should put all their efforts towards saving those members of their forces who are infected with coronavirus,” according to the semi-official ISNA news agency.
Trump’s announcement was a followup to a series of incidents that have taken place between IRGC Navy vessels and American forces in the Persian Gulf over the past week, and also perhaps a veiled warning over the launching of a military satellite by the Islamic Republic earlier in the day as well.
On Wednesday (April 22), Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps told news agencies that it had launched the country’s first military satellite into orbit.
The dramatic announcement unveiled what experts are calling a “secret space program” that is raising concerns about whether the technology will be used to further develop Iran’s intercontinental ballistic missile program (ICBM).
On Monday (April 20), the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy patrol boats sailed dangerously close to two American patrol crafts and a logistics support vessel in the northern Persian Gulf near Kuwait in the early overnight hours. It was the second time the Iranian Navy had harassed US Navy vessels in Gulf waters — on April 15, 11 Iranian naval patrol and fast boats of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) approached and sailed around the USS Lewis B. Puller and five other vessels. The USS Paul Hamilton, Firebolt, Sirocco, USCGC Wrangell and Maui were also sailing at the time.
Video released by today shows the moment its patrol vessels & boats sailed around vessels including USS Lewis B. Puller (ESB 3) in North of on 15 April 2020. Here in this video the USS Vella Gulf Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser can be seen. pic.twitter.com/gbqsWbHzcq
— Babak Taghvaee (B) (@BabakTaghvaee1)