Trump warns Iran of ‘harder’ response over delayed deal amid Hormuz clashes
Why this matters: local context for readers following news across Pakistan and the region.
WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump claimed on his Truth Social platform that three American destroyers successfully navigated the strategic waterway of Strait of Hormuz “under fire” from Iranian forces. Trump stated that while the US vessels sustained no damage, the Iranian attackers suffered “great damage.” “They were completely destroyed along with numerous small boats, which are being used to take the place of their fully decapitated Navy. These boats went to the bottom of the Sea, quickly and efficiently. Missiles were shot at our Destroyers, and were easily knocked down. Likewise, drones came, and were incinerated while in the air. They dropped ever so beautifully down to the Ocean, very much like a butterfly dropping to its grave! A normal Country would have allowed these Destroyers to pass, but Iran is not a normal Country,” he wrote. “They are led by LUNATICS, and if they had the chance to use a Nuclear Weapon, they would do it, without question — But they’ll never have that opportunity and, just like we knocked them out again today, we’ll knock them out a lot harder, and a lot more violently, in the future, if they don’t get their Deal signed, FAST! Our three Destroyers, with their wonderful Crews, will now rejoin our Naval Blockade, which is truly a ‘Wall of Steel’,” he said. ‘We’re negotiating with the Iranians,’ Trump says “We’re negotiating with the Iranians,” US President Donald Trump said during a visit to see renovations of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. “We took our 3 destroyers, and we rammed them through some pretty big stuff today, and we knocked the hell out of them. The destroyers weren’t hurt in any way,” he said. Iran Claims Attacking American Military Vessels Iran’s central military command has accused the US of violating the ceasefire by attacking an oil tanker and another ship. It added that the Iranian forces “immediately and in retaliation attacked American military vessels”, Reuters reports. Meanwhile, Ebrahim Azi