Trump threatens to ‘take over’ Iran in Hormuz tirade

Donald Trump threatened to “take over” Iran if the Strait of Hormuz was not immediately reopened after Tehran said it would close the waterway because Israeli forces continued an all-out assault on Lebanon aimed at dislodging Hezbollah militants.

- JOHN BOWDEN IN WASHINGTON, D.C.

The US president said he’d warned Iranian officials directly that "you close [the Strait of Hormuz] and you won't have a country,” the channel’s Trey Yingst reported.

"You won't even make it back to your f***** country,” Yingst said the president claimed to have relayed to the Iranians, adding: “We'll take over the rest of the country."

The threat is a new step for the president, who has been seeking a way out of the war he began since the conflict kicked off in February. In the days leading up to last week’s ceasefire signing, he was reportedly considering plans to deploy US military forces with the goal of occupying Kharg Island, a major Iranian oil industry hub.

His latest disagreement with Tehran is a sign of just how shaky the US-Iran ceasefire remains, as well as the continued failure of the White House to hold Israel in line. The Israeli offensive in Lebanon is viewed by some Trump advisers as an effort to directly undermine the ceasefire agreement signed by Trump, which Israeli officials have roundly denounced as insufficient.