The United States and Iran have exchanged fresh military strikes after Iran reportedly attacked a Cyprus-flagged vessel in the Strait of Hormuz a few days back.
President Donald Trump has said that he has ordered a complete shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz and reinforcement of Iran’s naval blockade.
On the multiple rounds of strikes which continued for the fifth day on Tuesday, Trump said the Iranians’ “power has been largely taken away” and expanded on the alleged damage by saying: “Now, they have something left, but it’s been largely taken away.
As an example, their military had 159 ships; 159 ships are under the sea.”
He added, “They had 200 planes before the onset of war, all are gone now. Their radars have been dismantled, their anti-aircraft guns are dusted, their weapon-making facilities are also gone, nearly 84 per cent and you know, it’s largely gone.”
“So they are a much different country than they were four months ago,” he said, adding, “In four months we’ve brought them back to the Stone Ages to a large extent.
“With that being said, they’ve got some missiles, and they’ve got a little capability, but they’ve been largely brought back into a different period of time.”
“Iran was the bully of the Middle East, and they weren’t going to be bullying me,” he added.
The tensions have vastly intensified due to Iran’s latest actions of targeting ships, damaging US bases in Bahrain and Kuwait, and also closing the Strait of Hormuz for global shipping.
As a result of the closure, crude oil prices, which were down for days, have gone up and are climbing steadily.
Also read: IRGC targets Jordan, Kuwait as US ends fourth round of strikes
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