Escalation in the Gulf: the US and Iran reactivate the crossfire in Hormuz
Washington assures to have sunk six Iranian ships and Trump threatens to "erase from the face of the earth" the Persian country
WashingtonIn Hormuz, the only thing that seems to have resumed, for now, is the crossfire between the US military and Iranian forces. This Monday morning, the US military admitted an Iranian cruise missile attack against one of its ships in the waters of the Gulf. Previously, the Central Command (CENTCOM) of the military had denied the facts in a post on X, stating that Iranian state media were lying. In parallel, Admiral Bradley Cooper, the head of CENTCOM, assured that the navy had sunk six small Iranian ships. Oman has reported an Iranian attack in a residential area, and the United Arab Emirates claim to have intercepted three missiles fired from Iran. The region is heating up again after days of stalemate.
In an interview with Fox, Donald Trump added fuel to the fire and said that Iran will be "obliterated from the face of the earth" if it attacks US ships participating in his plan to escort commercial vessels through the strait. “We have more weapons and ammunition, and of much higher quality than we had before,” Trump said. He added: “We have the best equipment. We have material all over the world. We have bases all over the world; they are all equipped. We can use all this material, and we will, if necessary.” The escalation reactivates after the president announced the operation "Project Liberty" on Sunday, in which the US military would escort merchant ships through the strait. Iran had already warned that it would sink any vessel that attempted to pass through the strait without first asking permission from the Revolutionary Guard.
Washington's move, which was again an attempt to force the Iranians to reopen passage while the diplomatic channel is at a standstill, seems to have only served to stir up the waters of the conflict. The information between the two sides is once again, for the most part, contradictory and difficult to verify. CENTCOM also stated this morning that it had successfully escorted two ships; nevertheless, Admiral Cooper said that the navy is not "escorting" commercial ships through the strait.
