Dubai: US President Donald Trump threatened Iran on Saturday after the funeral of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei saw open calls for his killing, further underlining the tensions gripping West Asia as an interim deal to end the war buckles under repeated crossfire across the region.
“1000 Missiles are Locked and Loaded and aimed at the Islamic Republic of Iran, with thousands more ready to immediately follow should the Iranian Government act on its threat,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Trump added that the US military would “completely decimate and destroy all areas of Iran — PRAISE BE TO ALLAH!”
Trump made the remarks after senior US officials demanded that Iran issue a public statement declaring that the Strait of Hormuz is open and that ships passing through the vital waterway would no longer be attacked.
So far, Tehran has refused to do so, instead insisting that the route remain under its control and that it be allowed to levy charges on ships transiting the strait, challenging decades of international practice that has treated it as an international waterway.
The region has witnessed several days of US airstrikes targeting Iran, followed by Iranian retaliatory attacks against US-allied countries across West Asia. The latest escalation was triggered after Iran attacked three ships in the Strait of Hormuz earlier this week.
