The US President, Donald Trump, made a remarkable ultimatum to the Islamic Republic of Iran through his social media account on Saturday, where he claimed that “1,000 missiles are locked and loaded” and directed toward Tehran should Iran succeed in any assassination attempt against him.
In the statement published on his new social media site called “TruthSocial,” the President said that military pre-authorised directives have already been issued to the US Military which authorize the initiation of total warfare if any operational threats against his life are to be carried out.
‘Decimate and Destroy’: Trump’s military order for a year
The presidential directive outlines a new timeline of aggressive warfare that targets Iran directly by completely bypassing the traditional approach of indirect attacks using proxy warfare.
“In preparation for the potential asymmetric attacks and threats against me and the sitting President of the United States of America, orders have already been given, and the U.S. Military is ready, willing, and able, for a one-year period of time, subject to extension, to completely decimate and destroy all areas of Iran,” Trump said.
Escalation emerges following tensions at Supreme leader’s funeral
The sudden deterioration of diplomatic discourse seems to come as a response to recent tensions in Tehran, which saw public speakers at the funeral of the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei, make explicit threats of assassination against the United States President.
These drastic tensions come weeks after the fragile ceasefire of June 17, which helped to reduce hostilities from kinetic warfare between Western forces, Israel, and Tehran. The President recently made it clear that this precarious ceasefire is “over”, while both sides diplomatically agree to keep communications open in an attempt to avoid a full-on continental war.
Strait of Hormuz: Guarantee for safety of merchant traffic from US
As negotiations to solve the larger issues of the conflict that started on February 28 continue behind closed doors, the White House increases strategic pressure on international choke points in the meantime.
The current US administration has formally made demands to Tehran and asked for a guarantee of the safe passage of commercial ships through the waters of the Strait of Hormuz. In case of persistent obstruction and attacks on the maritime infrastructure of these critical areas, Washington warns that the response of the US military will not take long and that there will be no good outcome for them in this situation.
Strategic implications and readiness matrix
Despite the Pentagon’s refusal to make any comments regarding the targeting matrix listed by the President in his social media message, the officials have confirmed that the US military forces located in the region are at an increased level of readiness. Tehran has yet to issue an official administrative response.
