Tehran.- Iran claimed this Monday that there are people in the country who “are counting the minutes to welcome” U.S. soldiers in the event of a possible ground intervention to take the strategic Iranian island of Kharg, as has been suggested on several occasions in recent weeks by the President of the United States, Donald Trump.
“There are people in those same areas, and they are not few, who are counting the minutes to welcome these individuals,” stated the spokesperson for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Esmaeil Baqaei, in a press conference.
“They will see the consequences,” the diplomat asserted in response to a question about Trump’s statements and threats regarding a possible seizure of Kharg Island, located about 25 kilometers off the Iranian coast and from where Iran exports 90% of its oil.
Rising tensions between Iran and the United States
Baqaei’s statements come amid the military escalation between Iran and the United States and in the face of repeated threats from the U.S. president to launch a ground operation against Kharg.
Last Tuesday, Trump told the American network Fox News that he could carry out a ground intervention in Kharkiv: “If we manage to degrade their capabilities enough and reach deep into their structure, I would do it.”
More Read
Washington has already launched several airstrikes against the island of Jark since the start of the war on February 28th.
We recommend reading: Iran claims that two oil tankers exploded last night in the Strait of Hormuz
Tensions between Iran and the United States have escalated again since July 11, with new waves of attacks by Washington against Iranian territory and retaliatory operations by Tehran against U.S. targets in several Middle Eastern countries, which continued early this morning for the ninth consecutive day.
