Following unprecedented U.S. military strikes that reportedly obliterated Iran's defense systems and leadership, U.S. President Donald Trump has warned of catastrophic retaliation if Tehran disrupts oil flow or deploys mines in the Strait of Hormuz.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced that devastating American military strikes have functionally eliminated Iran's military capabilities and leadership, according to translated press conference transcripts circulated by Vahid Online وحید آنلاین, a prominent diaspora news aggregator generally critical of the Iranian regime. In his remarks, Trump claimed that over 5,000 targets have been struck, resulting in a 90 percent drop in Iranian capabilities across various sectors, and that Iran's missile capacity has been reduced to "10 percent, maybe less," according to Vahid Online.
Trump described the operation, which he referred to as the "midnight hammer," as necessary to permanently dismantle Iran's nuclear weapons program. During a Q&A session, Trump asserted that Iran has essentially been disarmed. "They certainly no longer have a navy. They have no air force. They have no air defense. It is all blown up. They have no radar. They have no communications and no leadership. Everything is gone," he stated, claiming that the main danger of the war ended in the first two days of the assault, per Vahid Online's transcript. Trump also claimed that "two levels of leadership" have been eliminated.
Amidst the widespread destruction, the U.S. President issued severe warnings regarding the Strait of Hormuz. In a Truth Social post translated by both Vahid Online and خبرفوری جنگ🚨اخبارفوری امریکا فوری, a domestic Iranian breaking news channel, Trump threatened extreme consequences if Iran attempts to block global oil routes. "If Iran does anything to stop the flow of oil in the Strait of Hormuz, the United States of America will hit them twenty times harder than they have been hit so far," Trump wrote, according to the domestic aggregator. He warned that the U.S. would target easily destructible infrastructure that would make rebuilding Iran "almost impossible," adding that "death, fire, and fury will reign upon them."
Trump also issued an immediate demand regarding naval warfare in the waterway. According to a translation by Vahid Online, Trump stated that while the U.S. has no confirmed reports of Iranian mines in the Strait, any existing mines must be removed immediately, threatening military consequences at an "unprecedented and unimaginable level" if they are not. Meanwhile, he reported ongoing tactical successes, posting that U.S. forces had "hit and completely destroyed 10 inactive minelayer boats/ships" in recent hours, Vahid Online reports.
While asserting total military dominance, Trump indicated that the U.S. has intentionally spared certain critical civilian targets for now. According to Vahid Online, Trump noted that attacks on major power generation targets were delayed; though "very easy to hit," their destruction would bring "very massive devastation" that would take years to rebuild. "We can destroy all of them in one day," Trump threatened, but noted the U.S. is waiting to see how the situation develops. When asked if the conflict was an end or a beginning, Trump framed the aftermath of the military campaign as "the beginning of building a new country," per Vahid Online.
Both source channels are highly focused on the translation and dissemination of Donald Trump's statements and Truth Social posts regarding a severe military conflict with Iran. Vahid Online's coverage includes detailed excerpts of a press conference, capturing the full combative and uncompromising tone of the original U.S. statements. The domestic Iranian channel ('Khabar Fori') mirrors this tone when translating the specific 'fire and fury' threat, ensuring the magnitude of the threat reaches the Persian-speaking audience without editorial softening.