Trump Threatens That Iran Will No Longer Exist

Trump threatens the U.S. “will be forced to militarily complete the job that we successfully started” and that “the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist!”

Trump said in a Truth Social post Saturday evening that U.S. aircraft struck Iranian missile and drone storage locations and coastal radar sites “for violating the Cease Fire Agreement, AGAIN!”

The president threatened that if Iran doesn’t “learn,” the U.S. “will be forced to militarily complete the job that we successfully started” and that “the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist!”

No specific target was identified in Iran’s strikes earlier Saturday, but Bahrain, which hosts the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, later condemned what it said was an Iranian drone attack on its territory, calling the strike a flagrant violation of its sovereignty and “a blatant threat to the security of its citizens and residents.”

Iran, which had been angered by ships transiting through the strait outside of a route through Iranian waters specified by Tehran, shot at least four drones at ships traveling through the strait on Thursday, Trump said on Truth Social Friday morning. One of those hit the upper deck of a cargo-carrying ship, and the U.S. “knocked down” the three other drones, he said.

The ship that was struck was the M/V Ever Lovely, a Singapore-flagged cargo ship exiting the Strait of Hormuz along the Omani coast, according to U.S. Central Command. There were no injuries, and the ship remained operational despite some damage, according to the shipping company and Singaporean port officials.

“Obviously, this is a foolish violation of our Ceasefire Agreement,” Trump said.

“The unwarranted aggression against commercial shipping by Iranian forces clearly violated the ceasefire,” Central Command said Friday. “Furthermore, Iran’s dangerous behavior undermined freedom of navigation as commerce increasingly flows through the vital international trade corridor.”