Trump threatens to annihilate Iran after new exchange of attacks
US President Donald Trump said Saturday that Iran would "no longer exist" if the United States is "forced" to resume the war, as he accused Tehran of violating a ceasefire.
The threat came after US forces said they struck "multiple" Iranian targets Saturday in another tit-for-tat response to attacks on shipping in the vital 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!" Trump wrote.
The clashes brought new tension to the negotiating process meant to end a war launched by the United States and Israel at the end of February.
They also underlined the risks still facing one of the world's most important sea lanes for oil and other commodities.
US Central Command said Saturday's strikes were in response to an Iranian drone attack on the Panama-flagged oil tanker "Kiku," which was carrying some two million barrels of crude.
The US military said the latest response targeted "surveillance infrastructure, communication systems, air defense sites, drone storage facilities, and minelayer capabilities."
Iranian media reported several explosions in the Sirik and Qeshm areas of southern Iran.
On Friday, the United States also conducted strikes that it said were in response to another Iranian attack on a ship, the "Ever Lovely."
Iran said Saturday it had hit US targets in the Gulf in its own retaliation. Bahrain said it was targeted by several Iranian drones early on Saturday and accused Tehran of "sabotaging peace efforts."
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said "if the aggression is repeated, our response will be broader."
Israel, meanwhile, launched strikes in Lebanon and Hezbollah's leader Naim Qassem rejected a deal to end that conflict, which has also threatened to derail the wider US-Iran peace effort.
Iran called "these brutal attacks... a blatant violation" of the interim truce deal.
- Shipping lanes under fire -
The flare-ups in violence highlighted ongoing wrangling over control of the Hormuz strait.
Iran has warned vessels not to enter or leave the Gulf through the strait without permission, but ships have continued to move, some using a route not authorised by Tehran.
H.A. Hellyer, of London think tank the Royal United Services Institute, said "Iran is likely to continue calibrated, low-level coercive activity in and around the Strait of Hormuz... to create persistent pressure on international shipping without triggering a wider conflict."
He said November's US midterm elections for Congress give Washington "incentives for a quicker agreement" while, for Iran, "a drawn-out negotiation accompanied by controlled pressure in the strait can work to its advantage."
Despite the latest flare-up, oil prices have fallen sharply on hopes that traffic through Hormuz would recover. In peacetime, it carries about a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas exports.
The economic impact on Iran remains unclear, but on Saturday the country's statistics agency said that year-on-year inflation had hit 88.6 percent, up from 68 percent in February.
- Lebanon threats -
Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war in early March, when militant group Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel in support of Iran. That provoked an Israeli invasion and fighting that has also undermined the US-Iran ceasefire.
Israel and Lebanon signed an agreement on Friday supported by the US aimed at securing long-term peace between the two countries.
Hezbollah's chief Qassem rejected the deal a day later, calling it "humiliating, shameful and a surrender of sovereignty."
He instead called for the full implementation of Washington's deal with Tehran, which includes an end to the fighting in Lebanon.
Hezbollah has repeatedly called for a full Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon, but the Washington deal does not appear to provide for that.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted Israeli troops will remain in the so-called security zone they occupy in southern Lebanon, with civilians prevented from returning until Hezbollah is disarmed.
The Israeli premier called the deal historic on Saturday and "a blow to Iran and Hezbollah."
But Netanyahu's far-right security minister Itamar Ben Gvir denounced it as "a big mistake" and insisted that only Israeli forces were capable of disarming Hezbollah.
The Israeli military said it carried out an airstrike on Saturday targeting suspected militants in Lebanon's south -- the first such attack since Washington announced the agreement between the two countries.
Lebanon's National News Agency then reported early Saturday evening that Israel had carried out fresh strikes in the south of the country.
The health ministry later reported at least one killed and two wounded in an Israeli airstrike on Nabatieh al-Fawqa.
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L.Russo--GBA
