Iran sends horror threat to strike European ships in Strait of Hormuz | World | News

Iran has threatened to strike European ships in the Strait of Hormuz as Donald Trump meets with Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine and Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel. The country’s deputy foreign minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, said every European warship that comes near the vital waterway is a legitimate target.

He also called for further negotiations with the US to “break the cycle of war”, though claimed to have heard nothing from Washington in the past 15 days. The minister called the Strait of Hormuz “a new defence capacity” as it becomes part of Iran’s national security.

He added: “The world must know that Iran is increasing its defensive tools, and we cannot under any circumstances give up these tools.”

He told Fox News: “If they don’t make a deal, then I go back and I finish the job. But that’s going to take them forever to rebuild. Already, it’ll take them many years to ever to rebuild.”

Mr Trump also claimed to have control over the Strait of Hormuz, despite Iran blocking it since the start of the war. He added: “Only ships that we want to get through get through.”

This comes as Mr Trump met with the Israeli Prime Minister in their first in-person talks since military action began in Iran in February.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called the meeting “positive and productive”, alongside Mr Trump’s separate talks with the Ukrainian President.

She wrote on X: “President Trump has concluded his meetings in the Oval Office with President Zelenskyy and Prime Minister Netanyahu. Both meetings were positive and productive!”

Mr Zelensky said he discussed Patriot interceptor missiles with his American counterpart, expressing his gratitude for “firm support” from the US.

He said: “The President and I discussed licenses for Patriot interceptor production and several other ideas that could help.”