“I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea.”
Even when he should be concentrating on responding to COVID-19, President Donald Trump’s hostility for Iran remains unchanged. On March 22, Trump tweeted, “I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea.”
On March 15, 11 Iranian Revolutionary Guard military speed boats approached within 10 yards of six U.S. warships carrying out military operations in the northern part of the Persian Gulf. The U.S. Navy claimed that Iranian military speed boats acted in a threatening manner by patrolling between U.S. ships in international waters for an hour. In response, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard argued that even though its military speed boats gave advance notice before patrolling the area, U.S. warships approached and dangerously failed to retreat despite a warning signal.
Trump appears to have sent a message warning Iran in connection with this incident. However, threatening interactions between U.S. Navy ships and Iranian Revolutionary Guard military speed boats occur several times a year. Bloomberg News reported that “amid rising disapproval of his coronavirus response, President Trump is again mobilizing the heated rhetoric that got him elected,” such as “criticizing China, threatening Iran, and oppressing migrants.”*
In fact, President Trump has been criticizing China everyday, using expressions such as “fake” and “intentional responsibility,” and announced on March 22 that he would sign an executive order to restrict immigration by suspending the issue of permanent residency cards. “I commanded the destruction of Iranian military speed boats” appears to be part of his “defeat the enemies” policy.
Along with China and South Korea, Iran is among the countries with a rapid spread of COVID-19, with 86,000 people infected and 5,400 deaths. However, recently the rate of infection has slowed. On March 22, Iranian President Hasan Rouhani said, “We even anticipate soon being able to export masks, virus test kits, and antibodies.”
In contrast, the U.S. has been unable to halt the spread of this infectious disease. There are 820,000 people infected and the death toll exceeds 45,000.
*Editor’s note: Although accurately translated, this quoted remark could not be independently verified.
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