Iran summons Swiss ambassador, threatens US warships over Trump tweet

Apr 23, 2020

A day after US President Donald Trump threatened to “shoot down and destroy” Iranian vessels, the commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned Thursday that his forces would destroy American warships if provoked. 

“I have ordered our naval forces to destroy any American terrorist force in the Persian Gulf that threatens [the] security of Iran’s military or non-military ships,” Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami said. “Security of the Persian Gulf is part of Iran’s strategic priorities.”

The commander’s statement follows Trump’s Wednesday tweet, in which the US president said he had instructed the US Navy to “shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats” that harassed American naval ships in the Gulf. 

Last week, the US 5th Fleet in the Persian Gulf announced 11 Iranian vessels had harassed US Navy and Coast Guards ships at a dangerously close range in international waters. One of the Iranian ships came within 10 yards of the Coast Guard cutter Maui’s bow, Pentagon officials said. 

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif weighed in Thursday, tweeting, “US forces have no business 7,000 miles away from home.”