&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "IRGC starts military drill in Strait of Hormuz for ‘smart control’. Details here")
Amidst the diplomatic tensions over the nuclear deal with the US, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Navy began a military exercise in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, local media reported on Monday (Feb. 16). The drill was named “Smart Control of the Strait of Hormuz," and was reported being led by the naval forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). It was also reported that IRGC's Commander-in-Chief Major General Mohammad Pakpour, was supervising the process. The exercise aimed to assess the readiness of operational units, review security plans, and rehearse scenarios for a military response to potential security threats.
This came after the Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Ali Larijani, said that if the US used force against the Islamic Nation, Tehran would target American bases. “If the Americans use force against us, they will receive force in return. The Islamic Republic is fully prepared but is not seeking war, and if war is imposed on us, we will respond,” Ali Larijani told Al Jazeera.
“If the Americans attack Iran, we will strike their bases. But based on past experience, I doubt the other side is seeking war again,” he added. Meanwhile, the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, at a presser with Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, said that it was going to be hard to make a deal with Tehran.
‘It’s going to be traumatic’
US President Donald Trump, on Thursday (Feb 12), warned Iran, saying that if the Islamic Republic fails to reach an agreement with America, then it will lead to a “very traumatic” outcome for Tehran. “With Iran, we have to make a deal, otherwise it's going to be very traumatic, very traumatic,” Trump said in remarks at the White House. He added, “They should have made a deal the first time, and they got Midnight Hammer instead.”
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“We had a very good meeting yesterday with Bibi Netanyahu, and he understands, but it's ultimately up to me if the deal is in a very fair deal and a very good deal with Iran, and it's going to be. I think a very difficult time for them,” Trump said.
