In a return to his most fierce rhetoric of the war, Donald Trump says he's ordered the military to be prepared to launch strikes against Iran if the Iranian government carries out or attempts an assassination of the US president.
"1000 Missiles are Locked and Loaded and aimed at the Islamic Republic of Iran, with thousands of more to immediately follow, should the Iranian Government act on its threat, pronounced in many corners of the Globe, to assassinate, or attempt to assassinate, the sitting President of the United States of America, in this case, ME!," he said in a Truth Social post.
"Orders have already been given, and the US Military is ready, willing, and able, for a one year period of time, subject to extension, to completely decimate and destroy all areas of Iran."
The threat came after the funeral of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei saw open calls for Trump's killing, further underlining the tensions gripping the Mideast as an interim deal to end the war buckles under repeated crossfire in the region.
Trump made the comments on his Truth Social after senior US officials demanded that Iran make a public statement saying the Strait of Hormuz is open and that ships crossing the vital corridor won't be attacked any longer.
So far, Tehran has not done so, instead insisting the route remain under its control and that it be allowed to charge ships moving through it, upending decades of precedence considering the strait an international waterway.
There had been multiple days of US airstrikes targeting Iran, as well as Iranian retaliatory fire targeting nations across the Mideast. Those strikes had been sparked by Iran attacking three ships in the strait earlier this week.
with Reuters