Tensions escalated in the Middle East on Friday as Iran warned it could easily destroy a naval fleet sent by the United States in order to ward off a potential threat to American commercial interests.
“Their billion[-dollar] fleet can be destroyed with one missile,” Ayatollah Tabatabai-Nejad said, according to Reuters.
“If they attempt any move, they will … [face] dozens of missiles because at that time [government] officials won’t be in charge to act cautiously, but instead things will be in the hands of our beloved leader,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, he warned.
The heated rhetoric has capped a multiyear standoff over the rogue nation’s nuclear program. President Trump’s administration angered the regime when he withdrew from an Obama-era nuclear deal granting Iran sanctions relief in exchange for limited monitoring accommodations.
PENTAGON SAYS IT’LL SEND SHIP, MISSILE BATTERY TO MIDDLE EAST TO DETER IRAN
The regime relaxed constraints on its nuclear program in reaction to sanctions the administration applied in May as part of its plan to put a chokehold on the nation’s crude oil exports. U.S. intelligence indicated that Iran considered military action and could close a waterway through which a hefty amount of the world’s oil passes. – READ MORE