President Donald Trump threatened on Saturday to “militarily complete the job” against Iran and warned that the Islamic Republic would “no longer exist” if the United States is forced to resume full-scale war, after a fresh exchange of attacks further strained a fragile ceasefire.
The warning came after US forces struck multiple Iranian military targets, saying the action was in retaliation for attacks on commercial shipping in the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
“United States aircraft just struck Iranian missile and drone storage locations, and coastal radar sites, for violating the Cease Fire Agreement, AGAIN!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“There may come a point when we are no longer able to be reasonable, and will be forced to militarily complete the job that we very successfully started. If that happens, the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist!”
The latest military action followed another round of tit-for-tat strikes a day earlier, when the United States attacked Iranian targets after another merchant vessel, the Ever Lovely, came under attack.
The renewed violence has again highlighted tensions surrounding control of the Strait of Hormuz, through which around a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas exports pass during peacetime.
Washington said the operation was launched after Iranian forces attacked the Panama-flagged oil tanker Kiku with a one-way drone. The vessel was carrying more than two million barrels of crude oil.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Sunday that it carried out strikes against Kuwait and Bahrain in retaliation for US attacks on Iranian territory, warning any further aggression would be met with a “crushing response.”
The Guards “destroyed eight important US military facilities at the Ali Al-Salem base in Kuwait and at the Fifth Fleet naval base in Port Salman in Bahrain,” they said in a statement.
Ahead of the IRGC statement, Kuwait’s army said the country was under attack from “hostile” missiles and drones, while in Bahrain air-raid sirens sounded.
“Kuwaiti air defenses are currently engaging hostile missile and drone attacks. Everyone is urged to adhere to the safety and security instructions issued by the relevant authorities,” the army wrote on X.
In Bahrain, which hosts a major US naval base, the interior ministry called on residents to “remain calm and head to the nearest safe place.”
A memorandum of understanding was reached between the United States and Iran in mid-June under Pakistan’s mediation, aimed at putting a lasting end to the war.
In the memorandum of understanding, Iran agreed “safe passage of commercial vessels with no charge, for 60 days only, from the Arabian Gulf to the Sea of Oman, and vice versa” in the strait.
The Iranian Guards had also warned on Thursday against any passage through the strait without their permission. It came after Oman, which shares the opposite shore with Iran, flagged an alternative route. The only passage authorized by Iran is through a corridor running along its coast at this time.
Despite the recent escalation, maritime traffic continued through the Strait, with 29 commercial vessels transiting on Friday, according to data from the Kepler shipping tracking website. An additional 17 vessels followed a route along the Omani coast. After peaking at 57 ships on Wednesday, the number fell to 42 by Thursday.
World oil prices extended sharp losses on optimism for traffic flows in the Strait of Hormuz despite the suspension of a UN evacuation program.
In Lebanon, after an agreement with Israel was signed in Washington after five rounds of talks that aims to pave the way to peace between the neighbors, Hezbollah’s leader Naim Qassem declared it void.
“This agreement is null and void, and the provisions of the Iranian-American memorandum of understanding must be implemented,” he said, referring to the deal between the two powers to end the broader Middle East war, which includes a ceasefire in Lebanon. (AFP)
