New Delhi:
US President Donald Trump has warned Iran that he will bomb them in a day’s time if they do not accept the US terms to end the war. The warning came as the US carried renewed attacks – in what it called “additional self-defence strikes” against multiple targets in Iran.
US forces had hit Iran with 49 Tomahawk missiles in its latest bombing raid, Trump said.
According to Trump, Iranian leaders had called him directly last evening and asked him to stop a bombing wave against Iran, reported Fox News.
To this, Trump reportedly said, “If Iran does not accept US terms for ending the war, we will bomb the s*** out of them tonight.”
Iran Revolutionary Guards, however, denied Trump’s claims.
“Trump’s claim that Iranian officials have contacted him is strongly denied and is a cover for escaping war,” they said.
Iran’s Hormuz warning
Another Iranian commander warned that Iran would respond across the region if the Strait of Hormuz is destabilized.
“You want to make the Sacred Strait of Hormuz unsafe?! We will turn the region into hell for you,” IRGC Aerospace Force commander Brigadier General Majid Mousavi said.
Shortly after the US strikes, the IRGC said that it had closed off the Hormuz to all vessels. “Effective immediately, due to insecurity in the region, the Strait of Hormuz is declared closed to all vessels, including oil tankers and commercial ships,” it said, according to a report by CNN.
However, the US CENTCOM flagged that the Iranian claim was “false”, noting that “commercial ships are continuing to transit in and out of the Strait of Hormuz” despite the fresh hostilities.
US-Iran war
The US and Iran have been testing a two-month ceasefire lately with strikes amid peace deal talks.
Trump urged Iran to sign a deal to end the war and suggested earlier this week that an agreement could be reached in days. The third straight day of US attacks followed Trump’s complaint that Tehran’s negotiators were taking too long and “playing us for suckers.”
“We hit them hard yesterday. We’re going to hit them again hard today. We were really close to a deal, but they keep tapping us along,” he had said.
The war began with massive US-Israeli strikes on Iran, rattling the region and global markets and driving energy prices higher since Tehran retaliated by virtually closing the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly a fifth of global oil normally passes.
