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		</div><p>Tensions between Washington and Tehran flared anew on Wednesday as Iran’s Revolutionary Guard conducted a space launch that could advance the country’s long-range missile program, and President Donald Trump threatened to <em>“shoot down and destroy”</em> any Iranian gunboats that harass Navy ships.</p>
<p>The launch was a first for the Guard, revealing what experts described as a secret military space program that could accelerate Iran’s ballistic missile development.</p>
<p>American officials said it was too early to know whether an operational Iranian satellite was successfully placed into orbit. Still, Mr Trump’s top diplomat accused Iran of violating UN resolutions.</p>
<p>After Iran’s announcement, Mr Trump wrote on Twitter, without citing any specific incident: <em>“I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea.”</em></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea.</p>
<p>&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1252932181447630848?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 22, 2020</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>Last Wednesday, the US Navy reported 11 Guard naval gunboats had carried out <em>“dangerous and harassing approaches”</em> to American Navy and Coast Guard vessels in the Persian Gulf.</p>
<p>The Americans used a variety of non-lethal means to warn off the Iranian boats, and they eventually left.</p>
<p>Such encounters were relatively common several years ago but have been rare recently.</p>
<p><em>“We don’t want their gunboats surrounding our boats, and travelling around our boats and having a good time,”</em> Mr Trump told reporters.</p>
<p><em>“We’re not going to stand for it … They’ll shoot them out of the water.”</em></p>
<p>Iran said the US was to blame for last week’s incident.</p>
<p>Conflict between Iran and the US escalated after the Trump administration withdrew from the international nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers in 2018 and reimposed crippling sanctions.</p>
<p>Last May, the US sent thousands more troops, including long-range bombers and an aircraft carrier, to the Middle East in response to what it called a growing threat of Iranian attacks on US interests in the region.</p>
<p>The tensions spiked when US forces killed Iran’s most powerful general, Qassem Soleimani, in January.</p>
<p>Iran responded with a ballistic missile attack on a base in western Iraq where US troops were present. No Americans were killed but more than 100 suffered mild traumatic brain injuries from the blasts.</p>
<p>At the Pentagon on Wednesday, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General John Hyten, welcomed Mr Trump’s tweet as a useful warning to Iran.</p>
<p>He drew a parallel between last week’s naval encounter in the Gulf and Wednesday’s space launch, which he said was <em>“just another example of Iranian malign behaviour.”</em></p>
<p><em>“And it goes right along with the harassment from the fastboats,”</em> he said. <em>“You put those two things together and it’s just more examples of Iranian malign behaviour and misbehaviour.”</em></p>
<p>Iran considers the heavy US military presence in the Middle East a threat to its security.</p>
<p>Mr Trump did not cite a specific Iranian provocation in his tweet or provide details.</p>
<p>Senior Pentagon officials gave no indication that Trump had directed a fundamental change in military policy on Iran.</p>
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