As the United States reinstated a naval blockade of Iranian ports, U.S. President Donald Trump on the 14th (local time) warned Iran in stark terms that "something really terrible will happen to them next week." He also made it clear that the use of force against Iranian infrastructure will continue indefinitely until he orders it to stop.
On the 14th (local time), Trump signaled in a Fox News interview that he intends to carry out additional military action against Iran even after the blockade. Asked how long U.S. strikes on Iran would continue, Trump said, "Until I tell them to stop."
Trump's remarks amount to a final ultimatum to further raise the level of military strikes if Iran does not yield. Trump has classified as a grave provocation the actions of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targeting merchant ships transiting the southern route of the Strait of Hormuz. Citing the protection of merchant ships, the United States restored a full maritime blockade of Iranian ports. Having already choked off Iran's oil exports, a key source of foreign currency, to pressure Tehran back to the negotiating table, Washington now appears unwilling to hesitate to use actual force.
Experts say the risk that armed clashes between the two countries will again escalate into full-scale war has peaked with these remarks. Alex Vatanka, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, told Al Jazeera, "Trump seems to expect that maximum pressure will bring Iran back to the negotiating table, but that is a kind of gamble," adding, "Given that Iran has consistently signaled it would respond to U.S. pressure with retaliation rather than concessions, the renewed blockade could instead lead to escalation."
The United States and Iran effectively scrapped the memorandum of understanding on ending the war signed last month in less than 60 days. The U.S. military at 4 p.m. that day imposed a naval blockade completely shutting off the entry and exit of ships to and from Iranian ports. One hour before the blockade began, it carried out intense airstrikes targeting major southern Iranian coastal cities including Bushehr and Bandar Abbas. U.S. Central Command has deployed more than 20 warships and hundreds of combat aircraft to the Middle East and is maintaining the highest level of alert.
Iran is also pushing back hard without retreating. Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran's Foreign Vice Minister, on the 14th criticized the United States for breaking the memorandum first and violating its obligations. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched drones and missiles toward U.S. facilities located in neighboring countries such as Kuwait and Bahrain, beginning full-fledged retaliatory attacks.