Trump instructs US Navy to shoot any Iranian gunboats that harass them

The United States has had enough of Iranian gunboats acting aggressively towards US and allied vessels- and President Donald Trump has ordered the US military to use force if the Iranian crews continue to harass friendly ships.

The president announced the measure early Wednesday on Twitter, though the order likely came sometime before.

“I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea,”

While the majority of the president’s Twitter critics seemed rather fixated on his use of “shoot down” in a sentence, the 20,000-plus retweets in under an hour made one thing clear: the world now knows the US will no longer tolerate Iranian gunboats acting with wanton disregard for lawful passage of US vessels in the Persian Gulf, particularly the Strait of Hormuz.

While Iran has claimed to possess missiles with 400-mile-range and vessels that are “three times faster than American vessels,” very little has been seen outside of armed speedboats and small patrol craft that frequent the Strait.

Known for exaggerating technological abilities but also known for their recklessness when acting in non-wartime situations, dealing with Iran requires taking in information with a grain of salt, yet exercising caution all the same.

“Its swarms of small boats, large inventory of naval mines, and arsenal of anti ship missiles can severely disrupt maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz- a strategic chokepoint critical to global trade,” DIA Director Robert P. Ashley Jr. said of Iran’s military in a November report published by the US Defense Intelligence Agency obtained by Newsweek. “Each of these forces are becoming increasingly survivable, precise, and responsive.”

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