On the back of his extraordinary claim that his “little excursion” Iran war is “nearly over,” U.S. President Donald Trump has made a chilling threat to the Islamic regime’s leadership.

Now under the control of the killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s son Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, who was appointed on Sunday, Iran issued a statement in response via the X account of state-run Fars News Agency calling Trump a “liar” for suggesting the regime’s military had “lost its power.”

Trump has since issued a Truth Social post doubling down on threats already made against Iran over navigation for shipping across the critical Straits of Hormuz, where 20% of the world’s oil passes through, at a time when the US has come under considerable pressure over the global oil price since the cost of a barrel jumped over $100 on Monday.

Trump’s post said: “If Iran does anything that stops the flow of Oil within the Strait of Hormuz, they will be hit by the United States of America TWENTY TIMES HARDER than they have been hit thus far.

“Additionally, we will take out easily destroyable targets that will make it virtually impossible for Iran to ever be built back, as a Nation, again—Death, Fire, and Fury will reign upon them—But I hope, and pray, that it does not happen!

“This is a gift from the United States of America to China, and all of those Nations that heavily use the Hormuz Strait.

“Hopefully, it is a gesture that will be greatly appreciated.”

‘Short-term excursion’

Ten days into a war he is already calling a “short-term excursion,” Donald Trump stood before cameras in Doral, Florida on Monday and told the world the fighting would be over “very soon” — before immediately threatening to escalate it if Iran kept its grip on the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump claimed 5,000 targets had been hit since the first bombs fell on February 28, boasted that Iran’s missile stocks had been ground down to “about 10 percent, maybe less,” and announced that drone factories were now being picked off one by one. “Starting today, we know all of the places they manufacture drones, and they’re being hit one after the another,” he said.

But the oil chokepoint remained his sharpest focus. With Brent crude having touched $119 a barrel, Trump was unequivocal about the consequences of Iran maintaining its blockade. “I will not allow a terrorist regime to hold the world hostage and attempt to stop the globe’s oil supply. And if Iran does anything to do that, they’ll get hit at a much, much harder level,” he said. Washington was now offering “political risk insurance” to tankers in the Gulf, he added, and US vessels would escort commercial shipping through the strait if needed.

Tehran wasted no time firing back. Through state-run Fars News Agency, an IRGC spokesman dismissed Trump’s claims as the words of a leader desperate to escape the pressure of a war going badly. “The lying President of America, in order to escape the pressure of war and put an end to the desperation of American military forces in the region, has falsely claimed the end of the power of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s armed forces,” the statement read.

‘We haven’t won enough’

Hours before the press conference, Trump had addressed a Republican gathering at his Doral golf club in terms that stripped the conflict of any solemnity. “We took a little excursion because we felt we had to do that to get rid of some people,” he told the room — then acknowledged the job was not finished. “We’ve already won in many ways, but we haven’t won enough,” he said, vowing to push on “until the enemy is totally and decisively defeated.”

His remarks landed against the backdrop of a loyalty rally inside Iran, where hardliners turned out to demonstrate their allegiance to Mojtaba Khamenei — the slain Ayatollah’s son, confirmed as the new Supreme Leader on Sunday as US and Israeli strikes continued to pound nuclear sites, civilian infrastructure, oil refineries and a desalination plant.

Putin call

Monday also brought a phone call with Vladimir Putin covering both Ukraine and the Middle East. Trump said the Russian president had expressed a desire “to be helpful” on Iran — a claim Trump batted back with characteristic directness. “I said, ‘You could be more helpful by getting the Ukraine war over with. That will be more helpful.’ But we had a very good talk,” he said.

On the question of Mojtaba Khamenei, the two men are firmly in opposing corners. Putin sent his congratulations to the new supreme leader on Monday and restated Moscow’s commitment to Tehran. Trump’s reaction was the opposite — he said the appointment left him “disappointed” and predicted it would bring “just more of the same problem for the country.” When pressed on whether Israel‘s assassination threat against the new leader extended to Washington’s thinking, Trump called it “inappropriate” to comment.

Trump returned once more to the argument that the entire operation had been necessary to prevent something far worse. Without the joint offensive to dismantle Iran’s nuclear programme, he said, the bomb would already exist — and had already been used. “They would’ve used it long before now, and at a minimum, Israel would have been annihilated,” he said.