President Donald Trump on Monday declined to characterize Iran’s missile fire at the United Arab Emirates as a violation of the ceasefire reached with Tehran last month, instead downplaying the scale of the strikes.
Asked by ABC News in a phone call whether he considered the Iranian salvos a breach of the truce, Trump appeared to minimize the attack.
“It was not heavy firing,” Trump said. “They were shot down for the most part.”
Pressed again on whether the strikes amounted to a violation, the president was noncommittal. “We’ll let you know,” he said. “I’m looking into it.”
Trump went on to issue a pointed warning to Tehran, telling ABC that Iran “better hope [the ceasefire] remains in effect.”
“The best thing that can happen to them is that we keep it in effect,” he said.
The president’s measured response came hours after a military exchange in the Persian Gulf. Iran opened fire on U.S. warships in the region on Monday, prompting an American counterstrike that destroyed six Iranian small boats, according to U.S. Central Command leader Adm. Brad Cooper.
The U.S. military also intercepted Iranian cruise missiles and drones as the Trump administration moved to push ships through the Strait of Hormuz, which has been effectively choked off in recent weeks, Cooper told reporters Monday.
Cooper said he had “strongly advised” Iran to steer clear of U.S. military assets as the Pentagon presses ahead with Project Freedom, the administration’s effort to restore commercial traffic through the strait. The U.S. naval blockade barring vessels from leaving Iranian ports will remain in effect, he said.
Multiple U.S. Navy destroyers are now positioned in the Persian Gulf, and the U.S. has cleared what Cooper described as an “effective pathway” through Iranian mines for commercial ships attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz. The vessels currently in the Gulf represent 87 different countries, he said.
Cooper added that the U.S. military has reached out to dozens of ships and shipping companies over the last 12 hours to encourage traffic flow through the strait as part of Project Freedom. Two cargo ships passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, with U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyers shielding vessels in the Gulf.
Earlier in the day, Trump threatened to “blow Iran off the face of the Earth” if its missiles targeted American ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
