Iran Threatens Indian Ocean Strikes After Trump Rejects Proposal

Iran has threatened to target United States warships and destroyers across the Indian Ocean and shut down the Bab al-Mandab Strait if the U.S. resumes military strikes. These warnings follow the decision by Donald Trump to reject a seven-day Iranian proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has kept closed since a U.S.-Israeli military assault began on February 28. Iran demands the lifting of a U.S. naval blockade and the unfreezing of assets as conditions for reopening the waterway.

In a rare public communication, Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei asserted that the U.S. would be forced to leave the Middle East after suffering painful blows. He claimed that Iranian fighters have prevented enemy forces from roaming freely in the Strait of Hormuz, predicting that the Arabian Sea would soon be rid of their presence. Iranian military officials, including Army Chief of Staff Habibollah Sayyari, maintained that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Iranian Army hold complete control over the region.

United States Central Command rejected these claims, stating that Iran has no navy because American forces sank it. CENTCOM cited the passage of over 1 billion barrels of oil in recent months as evidence that Iran does not control the strait. In response to the escalating tensions, the U.S. Navy is deploying the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt to the Middle East, while Trump maintains the U.S. holds total control of the strategic waterway.