US President Donald Trump has instructed the country's navy to fire on Iranian gunboats, two days after Iranian officials blamed the US for raising tensions in the oil-rich, shipping-critical region.
"I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea," Trump tweeted Wednesday morning.
Last week, the US Navy's Fifth Fleet accused the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy of "unsafe & unprofessional" seamanship after several small ships got within 50 yards of the USS Lewis B Puller and within 10 yards of the US Coast Guard ship Maui.
The US, along with other allies including the UK and Australia, have stepped up patrols in the region as part of the International Maritime Security Construct. The group has tasked itself with ensuring freedom of navigation at sea after Iran sabotaged and seized ships last spring.
Meanwhile, IRGC Navy Commander Admiral Alireza Tangsiri told state media Monday that "Americans bring insecurity with them wherever they go".
He said no foreign vessels can "trespass regional waters" unless it is identified by the Iranian military, that the US presence is illegal and that the recent spate of maritime incidents is the fault of US forces in the region.
"US forces violated international regulations and blocked the way of Iranian vessels but they were faced with our harsh response," Tangsiri said.
The comments came after a statement over the weekend, in which the IRGC said it was responsible for securing the Strait of Hormuz, where a fifth of the world's oil consumption passes each day.
Last year, Iran allegedly sabotaged six tankers and sized one, moves thought to be attempts at getting the US to end its "maximum pressure" sanctions campaign against it amid a shrinking economy.
Attacks on commercial ships became less frequent as 2019 wore on, but in the lead up to last week's events a cargoship was approached by skiffs in the Strait on 27 March and a US-flagged boxship was reportedly surrounded by Iranian patrol boats 2 April.
Tuesday, a Hong Kong-flagged product tanker, the 22,400-dwt SC Taipei (built 2000), was boarded by armed men, taken into Iranian waters and let go.
Iran's economy has reportedly been rocked by the recent downturn in oil prices, plus the Covid-19 outbreak, which has infected nearly 86,000 and killed nearly 5,400.
That, plus the ongoing US sanctions, are expected to shrink the Islamic republic's economy by another 6% in 2020, according to the International Monetary Fund.
'Devoid of context'
Maritime security consultancy Dryad Global said Trump's tweet would "likely heighten the risk of miscalculation in the region".
"By releasing this statement via a 240 character tweet, vital nuance is lost, including the crucial question of how the US intends to define harassment in this context," it said.
"Dryad Global assesses, and indeed hopes, that the ambiguity is deliberately aimed at creating a sense of unpredictability thus forcing Iranian forces to hesitate in their interactions with US vessels in the Persian Gulf."
It also questioned what Trump meant by "our ships", which could potentially include US-flagged vessels, Marshall Island-flagged ships or ships connected to US allies.
Dryad also argued that the tweet could be an attempt to influence oil prices, as US producers are under pressure due to the commodity's price collapse, while distracting from domestic concern over Covid-19.
"Despite the bellicose nature of his rhetoric, Dryad Global assesses that claims that the US is ‘preparing for war’ are likely incorrect," the firm said.
"The tweet is likely a typically Trumpian strong-armed response to recent IRGC(N) harassment of the US navy, as well as an attempt to influence events within the oil market."
