By Helene Cooper, Eric Schmitt, Lara Jakes and Thomas Gibbons-Neff
April 22, 2020
The president’s statement came a week after the Pentagon accused Iran of sending 11 fast boats to conduct “dangerous and harassing approaches” to six American warships in the Persian Gulf, and Tehran for the first time launched a military satellite.
WASHINGTON — President Trump said on Wednesday that he has told the Navy to “shoot down and destroy” any Iranian fast boats that harass American naval ships, in what would be a sharp escalation of the risky maneuvers performed by the two adversaries in the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea.
The president’s abrupt statement, which he announced on Twitter, came on the morning that Iran successfully launched a military satellite and a week after the Pentagon accused Iran of sending 11 fast boats to conduct “dangerous and harassing approaches” to six American warships in the Persian Gulf.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo confirmed the satellite launch and demanded that the United Nations Security Council hold Iran accountable for the potential violation of international guidelines restricting Tehran’s nuclear-capable missile program.
He noted that the government in Tehran had previously claimed that its missile launches were linked to commercial efforts — and not to its military, as it did Wednesday.
“I think today’s launch proves what we’ve been saying all along here in the United States,” Mr. Pompeo told reporters at the State Department. He noted that the launch was carried out by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, which has been designated by the State Department as a terrorist organization.
In the encounter last week with American warships, a swarm of Iranian fast boats, according to the Defense Department, “repeatedly crossed the bows and sterns” of the Navy ships at high speed, coming within 10 yards of one ship.
Mr. Trump did not say anything when the episode took place last week; such maneuvers have occurred for years, as American warships ply the Persian Gulf near Iranian territorial waters and Iran shows its ire by sending fast boats to harass the ships. Usually, the incidents end with warnings from the Pentagon.
But Mr. Trump on Wednesday suddenly escalated the potential American response, in a tweet that seemed to catch the Pentagon by surprise. “I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea,” he wrote on Twitter.
The Navy referred all questions to the White House. A Defense Department official said that the service had not received any formal policy directive from Mr. Trump ordering the Navy to start shooting Iranian gunboats. A U.S. military official said that there have been no further incidents with the Iranians, fast boats or otherwise, since the one last week.
Speaking to reporters Wednesday, David L. Norquist, the deputy defense secretary, said Mr. Trump’s statement on Twitter was more of a warning to the Iranians than a change to the current rules of engagement.
“The president issued an important warning to the Iranians, what he was emphasizing is that all of our ships retain the right of self-defense,” Mr. Norquist said. “The president is describing and responding to poor behavior of the Iranians.”
Standing alongside Mr. Norquist, Gen. John E. Hyten, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that he liked “that the president warned an adversary.”
The president has a history of Twitter announcements that seem at odds with traditional policy, including that involving the military and its rules and operations.
American military units on the ground and at sea abide by strict rules on “escalation of force,” a ladder that includes audible warnings, flares and maneuvers before a shot is fired, often as a last measure.
Mr. Trump’s directive, in many ways, discounts this entire process and could lead to injury and death on an already crowded, and often confusing, waterway such as the Persian Gulf.
General Hyten declined to comment on the results of the Iranian missile test, citing classified intelligence.
“I won’t go into those details but it went a very long way which means it has the ability, once again, to threaten their neighbors, our allies,” General Hyten said. “This is just another example of Iranian malign behavior and it goes right along with the harassment from the fast boats.”
The Navy released video of last week’s naval incident, which showed fast boats zooming close to an American warship. “He’s taking a bow,” one American voice is overheard saying, as one Iranian boat circles the ship.
Former American commanders in the Middle East said on Wednesday that U.S. Navy officers were already well trained in dealing with the ebb and flow of Iran’s naval harassment, and did not need new directives from Mr. Trump.
“Commanders are well aware and already have sufficient guidance to deal with these types of events,” said Vice Adm. John W. Miller, a retired commander of the Fifth Fleet, based in Bahrain.
Tensions between the United States and Iran have been high for more than a year, and the coronavirus crisis has not ushered in any easing.
The Trump administration has continued to impose its “maximum pressure” campaign of economic sanctions against Tehran after the United States withdrew from an international nuclear agreement; Tehran for its part has launched proxy attacks against American troops, interests and allies in the region.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, which commands the fast boats, is a paramilitary organization, separate from Iran’s conventional military. The Revolutionary Guard Corps carry out operations across the Middle East, train Arab Shiite militias and oversee businesses in Iran.
The Trump administration last April designated the Revolutionary Guards as a foreign terrorist organization, the first time that the United States named part of another nation’s government as that type of official threat.
In January, American drones killed Qassim Suleimani, a top Iranian general who headed the Quds Force, an elite unit of the Revolutionary Guards, drastically escalating tensions between Washington and Tehran.
More on the United States and Iran
Helene Cooper is a Pentagon correspondent. She was previously an editor, diplomatic correspondent and White House correspondent, and was part of the team awarded the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting, for its coverage of the Ebola epidemic. @helenecooper
Eric Schmitt is a senior writer who has traveled the world covering terrorism and national security. He was also the Pentagon correspondent. A member of the Times staff since 1983, he has shared three Pulitzer Prizes. @EricSchmittNYT
Lara Jakes is a diplomatic correspondent based in the Washington bureau of The New York Times. Over the past two decades, Ms. Jakes has reported and edited from more than 40 countries and covered war and sectarian fighting in Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel, the West Bank and Northern Ireland. @jakesNYT
Thomas Gibbons-Neff is a reporter in the Washington bureau and a former Marine infantryman. @tmgneff
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