Iran promises response to US Gulf threat

The chief of Iran's Revolutionary Guard on Thursday warned that the paramilitary group would have a "decisive response" after US President Donald Trump said he told the US Navy to fire on Iranian boats that harass US ships in the Persian Gulf.

"We declare to the Americans that we are absolutely determined and serious... and that all action will be met with a decisive response that will be efficient and quick," said Major General Hossein Salami on state television.

"We have ordered our naval units at sea that if any warships or military units from the naval force of America's terrorist army wants to jeopardize our commercial vessels or our combat vessels, they must target those warships or naval units,'' Salami added.

First the tweet, then the clarification

Separately, Iran also summoned the Swiss ambassador, who oversees US interests in Iran, to complain about Trump's recent threats.

On Wednesday, Trump tweeted that he had instructed the US Navy to "shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea."

Trump reiterated the sentiment in a press conference on Wednesday, though US Deputy Defense Secretary David Norquist seemed to walk back the comments in a later press briefing, referring to the statement as a "warning."

The exchange of barbs comes one week after the US said Iranian Revolutionary Guard boats had advanced on six US warships in the Persian Gulf in a "dangerous and harassing" manner.

The US Naval Forces Central Command said in a statement that the boats violated safety rules of shipping and international law, with "dangerous and provocative actions."

The US has classified Iran's Revolutionary Guard, which is under the direct command of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as a terrorist organization.

The Guard has said the US started the incident in the gulf last week, but did not provide evidence.

Two years of renewed tension

Trump's Wednesday comments came the same day the Guard announced the success of a secret project to launch a military satellite into orbit. 

The unverified claim would constitute the most recent example of Tehran violating of a botched denuclearization treaty — from which Trump distanced the US entirely in 2018. The remainder of the international community had been asking Iran to continue to abide by the deal's terms in the hope the US would return to it.

Read more:  How the coronavirus has altered Iranians' view of faith

kp/msh (AFP, dpa)

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