President Donald Trump has a reputation for sharing questionable tweets out of the blue. Staying true to his notoriety, the POTUS took to his official Twitter handle early Wednesday and abruptly tweeted that he has asked the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy Iranian gunboats that pester American ships, hinting at increasing tensions between Washington and Tehran.
In his tweet, Trump said he instructed the Navy to shoot down and destroy any Iranian gunboats if they harass American ships at sea. Clarifying the tweet, Joint Chiefs Vice Chairman Gen. John Hyten told reporters that it was to warn Iran while emphasizing that the Navy commanders know how to deal with hostile acts.
Hyten said if they come across but are waving from a safe distance, Hyten says its acceptable, but if they have a gun pointing at us, that's another thing and America knows what the difference is and will respond if necessary. He described the president's message as "crystal clear."
Iran's armed forces spokesman took to the comments section to advise the American government to focus on saving its service members from the pandemic. According to the ISNA news agency (via Reuters), Abolfazl Shekarchi asked America to stop bullying others and deviate its focus on saving those members of their forces who are infected with the deadly virus.
Trump's tweet comes after the Navy's announcement about 11 Iranian vessels conducting dangerous and harassing approaches of American ships in the international waters of the northern Persian Gulf. The U.S. Navy revealed that these ships came as close as 10 yards to a Coast Guard cutter.
The Navy accused IRGCN of conducting dangerous and provocative actions and increasing the risk of collision and miscalculation. In a statement, the Navy said these actions didn't comply with international regulations, referring to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Navy.
Before this recent provocative exchange between U.S. and Iran, the two nations went toe-to-toe back in March, when Ameican and coalition aircraft battered the Kataib Hezbollah militia group locations in Iraq. The attack on the Iran-backed group was in response to the deaths of two U.S. troops due to a rocket attack a day earlier, Politico reported.
A former defense official says this new guidance that instructs the Navy to shoot Iranian vessels for harassing U.S. ships is a noteworthy change to commanders' rules of confrontation. Commanders are currently allowed to respond to a direct threat, for example, if a vessel fires at a U.S. ship.