President Donald Trump indicated that the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, Iran, is skating on very thin ice with its recent provocations in the Middle East and that if Iran does “anything, they will suffer greatly.”
“Are we going to war with Iran?” a reporter asked the president in the White House. “Are you seeking regime change?”
“We’ll see what happens with Iran,” Trump responded. “If they do anything it will be a very bad mistake, if they do anything. I’m hearing little stories about Iran. If they do anything, they will suffer greatly. We’ll see what happens with Iran.”
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Trump was later asked if he was concerned about the recent alleged acts of sabotage against two Saudi Arabian oil tankers and a Norwegian ship over the weekend.
“We’ll see what happens,” Trump responded. “It’s going to be a bad problem for Iran if something happens, I can tell you that. They’re not going to be happy. They are not going to be happy people.”
“There was no immediate indication as to who may have been responsible or why the damage was inflicted, but the incidents occurred at the same time and place off the coast of the United Arab Emirates only days after the United States has dispatched warships and bombers to the area to deter alleged threats from Iran,” The Washington Post reported. “The location is near a sea lane critical to the world’s supply of oil, and the incidents followed a warning by U.S. maritime authorities that Iran might seek to disrupt commercial shipping in the area.”
The Post noted that one of the oil tankers had been preparing to deliver oil to the United States.
“The incidents coincide, however, with a surge in U.S.-Iranian tensions after the United States said last week that it has received intelligence that Iran was planning some kind of attack on U.S. forces in the Middle East,” The Post added. “In response to the threat, the Pentagon dispatched reinforcements to the Persian Gulf, including an aircraft carrier, a Patriot missile battery and a squadron of B-52 bombers.”
Former Israeli national security adviser Yaakov Amidror said last week that Iran was behind the recent escalation of violence in Gaza.
“Amidror, in a conversation with The Israel Project, traced the current round of massive rocket fire on Israel to Friday, when an Islamic Jihad sniper fired on IDF soldiers patrolling the Gaza border, wounding two officers,” The Jerusalem Post reported. “What made Friday’s shooting on the IDF patrol interesting, Amidror said, was that it took place precisely when Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders were in Cairo putting the finishing touches on an agreement drawn up by Egypt that was designed to ease the tension in the South.”
“Why did the Islamic Jihad do this?” Amidror said. “The answer is again and again and again – Iran. It was established by Iran, financed by Iran, and does what Iran wants it to do.”
Amidror explained that Iran hopes Israel “will be busy focusing on Gaza and not have enough energy to deal with the building up of an independent war machine in Syria.”