Donald Trump dashes hopes of imminent Iran settlement in latest outburst

Donald Trump dashes hopes of imminent Iran settlement in latest outburst As the dust settles from the latest blow to a fragile Middle East ceasefire US President Donald Trump threatens to blow it all up again and set off regional war with even more threats America and Iran have exchanged fire in one of the worst flare-ups of the war and another major blow to permanent peace settlement hopes. Hours later, on Wednesday, US President Donald Trump slammed Iran for delaying a peace deal, warning Tehran “will have to pay the price.’ The missile exchanges followed by Trump’s outburst have put major strain on a fragile ceasefire that has fluctuated since April 8. Out of frustration Trump posted an astonishing escalation on social media, saying: “ Iran’s Military is a complete and total mess. Much of it, like their Navy and Air Force, doesn’t even exist anymore – They have been completely defeated. Iran is all talk and no action.” His latest comments were a sudden and stark departure from his repeated optimistic claims about a peace settlement coming “within days.” The Tuesday evening US attacks were in response to Iran’s troops shooting down a £60m US Apache attack helicopter over the Strait of Hormuz on Monday. Although the two-strong crew was saved by remote drone, in the first ever rescue of its kind, the downing of an Apache was a humiliation. Apache helicopters are immensely well-protected with a kevlar shell and hi-tech weaponry and surveillance systems. It came after days of Trump claims in which the US President suggested a settlement was days away, along with the re-opening of the Strait of Hormuz. The ferocious US response was launched at 5pm -GMT, as American forces hit back against Iran with what they called “defensive strikes.” US Central Command - CENTCOM- said in a statement shortly afterwards: “US Central Command forces began launching self defence strikes against Iran at 5pm at the Commander-in-Chief’s direction in response to yesterday’s downing of a US Army Apache Helicopter. “The mission is a proportional response to unjustified Iranian aggression.” And there are fears US forces have started dismantling civilian infrastructure within Iran after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said US strikes, hit targets including Sirik, Jask, Minab, Qeshm Island and the port of Bandar Abbas. The shadowy group the Islamic Republican Guard Corps also claimed the US strikes had caused major damage to a telecommunications tower in the town of Sirik and destroyed two water reservoirs there. This is the second time there have been claims the US has hit Iran’s crucial desalination plants, which convert sea water into ordinary water suitable for drinking, irrigation and industrial use. On March 7, during the all-out war between Iran and the US-Israel, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused the US of striking a desalination plant on Qeshm Island off the coast of Iran in the Strait of Hormuz. The strike reportedly cut off the water supply to 30 villages. At the time Araghchi wrote: “Water supply in 30 villages has been impacted. “Attacking Iran’s infrastructure is a dangerous move with grave consequences. The US set this precedent, not Iran.” These facilities are particularly critical in areas such as the Gulf, where freshwater is scarce and similar sites in the neighbouring Gulf States have come under fire from Iran. US taxpayers are spending several billion dollars a-week on maintaining an immense armada of warships in the Gulf and wider region. It is believed 20,000 sailors and marines are stationed on ships there, aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln and USS George HW Bush carrier strikes groups. These immense maritime fortresses are accompanied by 18 guided missile destroyers, the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit and over a dozen squadrons of warplanes. They are spread across the Eastern Mediterranean, Red Sea and North Arabian Sea. And in addition to the 20,000 sailors are around 50,000 US troops stationed across the entire Middle East. A South Korean tanker arrived at a port in the East Asian country after being stuck in the Strait of Hormuz since the Middle East war broke out, at the end of February. Iran has weaponised the crucial waterway and effectively cut off the strait by using the threat of apparent underwater bombs and strikes on vessels that attempt to cross without permission. A tanker named Universal Winner, said to be the first South Korean ship to leave the Strait of Hormuz, arrived at the port of Ulsan, South Korea, on Wednesday, June 10. The large vessel, operated by the Korean shipping company HMM, unloaded crude oil after reaching the port about three weeks after it left the strait, according to reports in South Korea. Universal Winner was loading crude oil from Kuwait when the US and Israel struck Iran, unleashing the ongoing conflict. The vessel and its 21 crew members were allowed to leave the Strait of Hormuz after an agreement between Iran and Korea was reached on May 20. This tanker is one of 26 South Korean boats stranded in the waterway. Around 750 ships are believed to have passed through the strait since the conflict began.