Iran: “I can wipe it out in an hour” — Donald Trump issues a warning to Tehran

U.S. President Donald Trump said he believes that Iran will grant the United States “everything it wants,” otherwise it will be wiped out “within an hour.”

In an interview with Fox News on Sunday, Trump delivered a stern warning to Tehran, stating: “I can wipe out Iran in a single day — even in one hour.”

He added: “I can take control of all energy facilities, and this is extremely important.”

Earlier on Sunday, the United States Central Command announced that its forces would begin enforcing control over maritime traffic entering and leaving Iranian ports at 14:00 GMT on Monday.

In a statement posted on X, the command said these measures would be applied “without discrimination to vessels of all nations entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas, including all Iranian ports on the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.”

The statement added that U.S. forces would not impede the freedom of navigation of vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz to or from non-Iranian ports, and that additional information would be provided to commercial mariners through an official notice before enforcement begins.

Trump also stated in a post on Truth Social that the United States would intercept any vessel in international waters that had paid fees to Iran and would begin destroying the mines he claims Iranians planted in the strait, a vital passage for about 20% of global energy supplies, which Iran has effectively treated as closed since the start of the war.

Trump wrote: “Anyone paying illegal transit fees will not enjoy safe passage on the high seas… any Iranian who fires at us or at peaceful vessels will be sent to hell!”

The talks held in Islamabad, following last week’s ceasefire agreement, mark the first direct meeting between the United States and Iran in more than ten years and the highest level of discussions since the 1979 Iranian Revolution.

In a follow-up interview with Fox News after his remarks on the strait, Trump said he believed Iran would continue negotiations, describing the early-week talks as “very cordial.”

Speaking from his private golf course near Miami, Florida, Trump added: “I think they will come to the negotiating table, because no one can be foolish enough to say ‘we want nuclear weapons,’ and they hold no cards.”

He said that member states of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which he criticized for not supporting the war waged by America alongside Israel against Iran on February 28, want to assist in the ongoing operation in the strait.

A U.S. official said that Iran rejected Washington’s request to end all uranium enrichment activities, dismantle all major enrichment facilities, and transfer highly enriched uranium.

He added that the two sides also failed to reach agreement on the U.S. demand that Iran stop funding Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, as well as on fully reopening the strait.