President Donald Trump said Saturday night “the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist” if the United States is “forced to militarily complete the job” in Iran after the U.S. launched another round of retaliatory strikes against Tehran Saturday.“It is very possible that they will never learn!” Trump said on Truth Social, referring to Iran twice launching drone attacks at commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz over the past two days. Iran also attacked Bahrain early Saturday morning.“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,” he said. “If that happens, the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist!”
The comments mark an escalation in the White House’s rhetoric after Iran first launched drone attacks at four commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday. Trump called the initial strikes a “foolish violation” of the ceasefire agreement signed last week, while Vice President JD Vance said “violence will be met with violence.”The U.S. responded to these initial strikes yesterday with a “powerful response,” according to a U.S. Central Command statement.“The unwarranted aggression against commercial shipping by Iranian forces clearly violated the ceasefire,” the statement said. “Furthermore, Iran’s dangerous behavior undermined freedom of navigation as commerce increasingly flows through the vital international trade corridor.”The reopening of the Strait of Hormuz was one of 14 points agreed upon by the U.S. and Iran in the memorandum of understanding. US MILITARY LAUNCHES ‘ADDITIONAL STRIKES’ AGAINST IRAN AFTER SHIP ATTACKED IN STRAIT OF HORMUZTehran’s repeated ceasefire violations, coupled with Trump’s latest warning, raise fresh questions about how negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program and stockpile of enriched uranium will move forward.In the statement announcing Saturday’s strikes, CENTCOM said “Iran was given a chance to honor the ceasefire agreement but elected not to when its forces launched a one-way attack drone.”
