Intel: Iran launched its first satellite into space. Then Trump threatened to destroy Iranian vessels.

Apr 22, 2020

President Donald Trump issued a stern warning to Iran today on Twitter, 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.”

Trump followed up by retweeting a video from an account reportedly run by the Iranian opposition group Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, which included the video the US Navy released last week showing 11 Iranian vessels harassing six American ships at dangerously close proximities. The US Navy released the video at the time. Trump accused former Vice President Joe Biden — the presumptive Democratic nominee for president — of thinking “this was OK. Not me!”

Why it matters: It remains unclear why Trump opted to issue the threat a week after the incident in question, where 11 Iranian vessels harassed six American ships at dangerously close quarters.

However, his tweet came the same day that Iran announced it had successfully launched its first military satellite into orbit, which prompted the United States to double down on accusations that Tehran is violating a UN Security Council resolution that calls on it to refrain from ballistic missile activity “designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such ballistic missile technology.” (The Congressional Research Service notes that the provision is nonbinding.)  

“Every nation has an obligation to go to the United Nations and evaluate whether this missile launch was consistent with that Security Council resolution,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters at the State Department. “I don’t think it remotely is, and I think Iran needs to be held accountable for what they’ve done.”