President Donald Trump has given an existential warning to Iran. The threat moves the confrontation far past the scope of targeted military strikes. It further adds to the already fragile ceasefire between the two nations.
Donald Trump’s threat to ‘complete the job’ against Iran
As tensions between Washington and Tehran escalate, Donald Trump posted a threat on Truth Social late Saturday, warning that Iran could cease to exist as a nation if it continues to breach the ceasefire agreement. “There may come a point when we are no longer able to be reasonable, and will be forced to militarily complete the job that we very successfully started. If that happens, the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist!” the president wrote.
The warning followed U.S. strikes on Iranian missile and drone storage facilities and coastal radar sites (via The Hill). The latest exchange is an addition to a cycle of attacks occurring during the 60-day ceasefire.
The language revived an earlier threat from April, when Donald Trump declared Iran’s “whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.” Democratic lawmakers reacted with criticism at the time, branding the statement “pure evil” and accusing the president of threatening genocide.
Iran hit back on Sunday. They struck targets in Kuwait and Bahrain, accusing the U.S. of being the one to violate the ceasefire. No injuries were reported. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned that any further U.S. attacks would result in the “complete halt of all diplomatic processes.”
The Strait of Hormuz sits at the heart of this dispute. The U.S. and Iran signed a 14-point memorandum extending the ceasefire by 60 days to negotiate peace, Iran’s nuclear future, and free passage through the strait.
But Iran has continued asserting control over the waterway. They struck a Singapore-flagged cargo ship near Oman on Thursday. Iran also attacked a Panama-flagged tanker carrying over two million barrels of crude oil near the strait on Saturday. They warn that safety will be ensured only when it’s coordinated with officials in Tehran.
