After weeks of calm, the guns spoke again. The United States ignited the fuse of tension by carrying out an airstrike on the Iranian island of Larak. Their targets were two launchers that were preparing to fire missiles loaded with mines, which would have turned the Strait of Hormuz into a minefield once again.
 
“Iran created the threat, and the U.S. military eliminated it to protect civilian sailors, commercial shipping, and the free flow of global trade.”
U.S.
Central Command
The news is hitting the American media like a bombshell, as history has shown that any resurgence of tension sets the stage for conflict throughout the volatile region.
 
“We have a breaking news story. U.S. forces are striking Iran in their first military action in a month. A U.S. official says Iran was preparing to launch mines… in the critical Strait of Hormuz. “Tonight, Iran promises to retaliate,”
reports “ABC.”

And indeed. The reaction of the Revolutionary Guards was almost instantaneous; they pulled ballistic missiles and drones from their arsenals.
  
With a barrage of attacks, they attempted to strike military infrastructure in the United Arab Emirates, where U.S. troops are stationed, as well as two U.S. bases in Jordan.
In
total, Amman shot down eight missiles and announced that the attack had been successfully thwarted.
 
The Iranians, however, are celebrating and issuing threats.
“We will
respond fiercely and decisively. Foreign forces must leave this region… and learn a lesson so that they never… repeat their aggression and violence against our country.”
KAZEM GARIBABADI – Deputy Prime Minister of Iran

ADDING FUEL TO THE FIRE

Trump also appears undeterred; following the bombings, he even enlisted Artificial Intelligence to add fuel to the fire.
 
With this video, which shows U.S. fighter jets pounding the island of Kharg, he made sure to send a clear message: If you continue, then Iran’s main oil hub will be blown to smithereens.
 
A threat that was accompanied by a clear statement in front of the Fox News television camera: “They are

very violent, evil people. And if they acquired a nuclear weapon, Israel would have been wiped out. If I weren’t President, Israel would have been wiped out. There would be no Israel, and probably no Middle East either. And I suppose we would be next, or Europe. But no, they cannot acquire a nuclear weapon. And they will not acquire a nuclear weapon.”
DONALD TRUMP – President of the United States

ECONOMIC “ATTACKS”

Along with the resurgence of attacks, the White House is also escalating the economic war to strangle Tehran.
 
The U.S. Secretary of the Treasury has already imposed sanctions on branches of the Egyptian bank MISR in the United Arab Emirates, due to its transactions with Tehran, and has announced that another major bank will be next in the coming days. A barrage of sanctions will be announced gradually each week.
 
“I will make it clear to my counterparts in the G20, as well as to the central bankers, that they must sever their economic ties with Iran, or else they will face secondary sanctions. They are either with us or with the Iranians.”
SCOTT BESSENT – U

.S. Secretary of the Treasury “Unite against the enemies of Islam”—this was the message sent in a statement by the Supreme Leader —the “phantom” of Iran—in a statement to all Muslim states that might be considering following Trump’s strategy to escape the siege of sanctions.

See the report by Yiannis Xenophontos:

READ ALSO: U.S.-Iran: Trump on war footing, “we will respond” to Iran’s attacks | AlphaNews