Trump vows a ‘quick and brutal’ death for Iranian ships as blockade begins

US President Donald Trump has said that any Iranian ships that come near US blockades in the Middle East will be “immediately eliminated.”

He wrote on Truth Social Monday: “Iran’s Navy is laying at the bottom of the sea, completely obliterated – 158 ships. What we have not hit are their small number of, what they call, ‘fast attack ships,’ because we did not consider them much of a threat.”

Trump continued, “Warning: If any of these ships come anywhere close to our BLOCKADE, they will be immediately ELIMINATED, using the same system of kill that we use against the drug dealers on boats at Sea.

He further said “It is quick and brutal. P.S. 98.2% of Drugs coming into the U.S. by Ocean or Sea have STOPPED!”

All Iranian ports came under a US blockade on Monday at 10am EDT, or 3pm in the UK and 5.30pm in Iran, after Islamabad negotiations collapsed over the weekend.”

The US military has warned vessels entering east of the Strait of Hormuz that they will be subject to “interception, diversion and capture” as an imminent blockade of the area looms, Trump said.

Iran has called the blockade “illegal” and accused the US of “piracy”, according to Ebrahim Zolfagheri, spokesperson for the Iranian armed forces on Monday. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned that “approaching military vessels to the Strait of Hormuz is considered a violation of the ceasefire”.