U.S. Central Command commander, Adm. Brad Cooper said that , Iran had attacked seven commercial ships over the past seven days
As the U.S. resumed intensive bombing, President Trump resumed his bellicose rhetoric from the war’s early days. He threatened to take out Iranian bridges and power plants, which could be considered a war crime.
Here’s the latest.
President Trump on Tuesday reassumed a belligerent posture toward Iran that echoed his stance at the war’s outset, threatening to destroy bridges and power plants and refusing to rule out a ground invasion.
In the latest sign that the United States and Tehran are lurching toward full-scale war again, Mr. Trump told Fox News that the U.S. military would be striking Iran “very hard” on Tuesday night — and would continue to do so until Iran agrees to a deal.
U.S. Central Command released a statement by its commander, Adm. Brad Cooper, saying that over the past seven days, Iran had attacked seven commercial ships and that as a result, nearly a dozen civilian crew members were missing, injured or dead. “U.S. forces are holding Iran accountable for unwarranted aggression that continues to endanger innocent lives,” the admiral said.
Trump said his “representatives” spoke with Iranian officials on Tuesday and informed them they should make a deal or “you are not going to have anybody left,” he said. “We are being very careful with the civilian population,” he said.
“Everything they say is a lie”
Trump said he decided to go to war because Iran wanted a nuclear weapon. When the Fox News host Trey Yingst pushed back, saying Iran had denied seeking to develop a nuclear weapon, Trump said, “Everything they say is a lie.”
Trump said on Fox News that Iran would be “hit very hard” tonight and this week. “Next week, it gets really bad for them, because next week comes the power plants, next week comes the bridges,” he said, saying that the strikes would not end until Iranian officials came back to negotiations.
Such attacks could be considered a war crime under international law, and the comments recalled those he made in April when he threatened to bomb Iran “back to the Stone Ages.”
Bandar Abbas
Iran’s says that sounds heard intermittently in Bandar Abbas, coastal counties and Persian Gulf islands were linked to clashes and exchanges of fire in the Strait of Hormuz. An explosion was also heard near Hajiabad in Hormozgan province, according to IRNA, Iran’s official news agency.
Hajiabad lies inland north of Bandar Abbas, along an important route connecting the port with central Iran and near military facilities, though it was not immediately clear what caused the explosion or whether it was connected to the fighting in the strait.
NYTimes
