President Donald Trump says Iran is ‘dead,’ demands the ‘failed nation’ be ‘tried for war crimes against humanity’
President Donald Trump used his Truth Social platform to declare that Iran is no longer a functioning state, writing in capital letters that the country is “DEAD.” Trump called Iran a failed nation, claiming that it has no functioning navy, air force or currency and can no longer pay its soldiers or police. He also claimed inflation has reached 300% and that the country’s leadership is in total disarray and incapable of properly representing Iran.
Trump went further, claiming Iran’s only remaining assets are “FAKE NEWS from the USA,” a willingness to kill its own protesters and what he called a “good line of ‘BULLS***.’” He claimed more than 100,000 protesters have been killed and said Iranian officials responsible for the deaths should be “tried for war crimes against humanity.”
Trump vows military response
Trump told Fox News that the U.S. would respond after Iranian missiles targeted American forces in Jordan overnight, saying, “We’re going to hit them hard; there will be a response.” He also said all but one of the incoming missiles had been intercepted.
The attack came after explosions and missile interceptions were reported in Jordan following a launch attributed to Iran. Iranian media reported that missiles had been fired toward U.S. bases in the kingdom. A U.S. source told Fox News that “nearly all incoming missiles have been intercepted at this point.”
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard vows retaliation
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) threatened retaliation after a U.S. strike on Iranian military targets on Larak Island reportedly killed two people and wounded two others, according to Iranian media. A U.S. official confirmed to Axios that American forces carried out the strike to prevent Iranian forces from deploying sea mines in the Strait of Hormuz.
The same official told Axios that U.S. forces struck two Iranian launchers on Larak Island after IRGC forces were observed preparing to launch rockets carrying sea mines into the strait. American forces were “monitoring the area closely and remain prepared to protect the free flow of commerce” through the waterway, the official said.
Tasnim, an Iranian news agency affiliated with the IRGC, reported that the strike was carried out by a drone and killed two people while wounding two others. In a statement carried by Iran’s IRNA news agency, the IRGC vowed that the “terrorist enemy’s aggression on Larak Island will be met with punishment for the aggressor.” It also accused the United States and Israel of trying to reassert regional influence amid their own domestic troubles.
A war now in its sixth month
The conflict with Iran has entered its sixth month, with Washington describing its economic pressure campaign as an “economic D-Day” against Tehran, which has already faced extensive U.S. sanctions for decades.
Hostilities around the Strait of Hormuz, which normally handles about a fifth of global crude oil and liquefied natural gas shipments, have reignited, roiling oil markets and prompting Trump to consider possible retaliation against Iran’s Kharg Island, a crucial oil-export hub. The strait has effectively been blocked since the start of the war.
Just days before the Larak Island strike, Trump claimed the U.S. had made progress in clearing the waterway. He wrote on Truth Social that the U.S. Navy had informed him all mines had been removed or detonated from international waters in the Strait of Hormuz and that Iran had been warned any ship placing new mines would be “immediately and systematically destroyed.”
He added that the U.S. was “watching every square inch of the strait” through Space Force, while also monitoring Pickaxe Mountain and three already-destroyed nuclear sites under what he called a “zero tolerance policy” on mine placement.
Iran, however, insists the conflict is far from over. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi told Iranian media, “We are still in a state of war and the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed.” He said reopening the waterway would require an end to fighting on all fronts, the lifting of the blockade and a resolution of the situation in Yemen.
Gharibabadi also linked the strait’s reopening to commitments Washington made under a memorandum of understanding signed by the two sides in June, warning that Iran could act preemptively rather than wait to be attacked first.