The US military has "no business" in the Persian Gulf, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Zarif said on Thursday in response to US President Donald Trump's threats to destroy Iranian vessels if they "harass" US ships
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd April, 2020) The US military has "no business" in the Persian Gulf, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Zarif said on Thursday in response to US President Donald Trump's threats to destroy Iranian vessels if they "harass" US ships.
Earlier this week, Trump said that he had directed the US navy to attack and destroy any Iranian gunboats that approach and intimidate US warships at sea. The apparent warning comes one week after the navy said Iranian boats had harassed US military ships in the North Arabian Gulf.
"US forces have no business 7,000 miles away from home, provoking our sailors off our OWN Persian Gulf shores," Zarif wrote on Twitter.
According to the minister, Trump should address the needs of US military hit by the coronavirus infections rather than engage them in "in threats cheered on by Saddam's terrorists."
On April 15, the US Central Command said that 11 vessels of the Iranian Revolution Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN) forces had conducted "dangerous and harassing" maneuvers around US warships in the Persian Gulf. However, after about an hour, the IRGCN vessels responded to the US bridge-to-bridge radio queries and moved further away from the warships.
