U.S. President Donald Trump threatened Iran on Saturday after the funeral of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei featured open calls for his assassination, intensifying Mideast tensions as an interim war resolution falters amid regional crossfire.
Trump issued these remarks on Truth Social after senior U.S. officials requested that Iran publicly confirm the Strait of Hormuz remains open and that ships traversing the critical corridor will no longer face attacks.
Tehran has not complied, instead maintaining that it retains control over the route and should be permitted to charge vessels passing through, contradicting decades of precedent recognizing the strait as an international waterway.
The conflict involved multiple days of U.S. airstrikes against Iran, alongside Iranian retaliatory fire targeting nations across the Mideast. These strikes were initiated after Iran attacked three ships in the strait earlier that week.
Trump posted online threats toward Iran, stating, "A thousand 'missiles are Locked and Loaded and aimed at the Islamic Republic of Iran, with thousands of more to immediately follow, should the Iranian Government act on its threat.'"
The U.S. president characterized his warning as a response to threats made against him to "assassinate, or attempt to assassinate." During Khamenei’s funeral, mourners repeatedly displayed posters and banners demanding his death alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The initial phase of the Iran conflict on February 28 included an airstrike that killed Khamenei, aged 86. Iran conducted a multi-day funeral ceremony this week, during which his body was transported to cities in both Iran and Iraq.
Trump further added in his post that the U.S. military would "completely decimate and destroy all areas of Iran — PRAISE BE TO ALLAH!"
Throughout the war and its fragile ceasefire, Trump has repeatedly invoked God's name in Arabic and threatened the destruction of Iranian civilization. The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a national advocacy group, has previously criticized Trump’s "deranged mocking of Islam."
U.S. Officials Urge Strait Statement From Iran
Unnamed U.S. officials told reporters that the resumption of strikes this week followed what they described as actions by a rogue faction of Iranian hardliners attempting to undermine the ceasefire between Tehran and Washington.
However, Iran has maintained that its theocracy remains unified under the new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, following the war.
The U.S. officials indicated on Friday that Trump is granting U.S. negotiators a limited timeframe to reach an agreement with Iran, but they emphasized the president possesses numerous options should talks fail.
Moments before this statement, Tehran's diplomat at the United Nations informed reporters that any activity in the Strait of Hormuz, including demining or opening operations, "rests exclusively with Iran."
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei reported separately that Qatari mediators traveled to Iran on Friday to meet with officials.
Iran has asserted that the strait must now be under its sole control and that vessels should begin paying fees to Tehran, despite decades of global recognition of it as an international waterway. Before the war, approximately one-fifth of all traded oil and natural gas passed through the strait.
Iran's control over the strait during the conflict contributed to a global energy crisis, although oil prices have since fallen sharply from wartime highs of $120 a barrel.
Middle East Remains Tense After Attacks
Following the U.S. conclusion of its latest strikes on Thursday, additional attacks reportedly struck Iran, raising questions about other potential targets for the Islamic Republic. Israel did not claim these attacks, suggesting Gulf Arab states may have launched them to deter future Iranian aggression against them. On Thursday, Iran retaliated against U.S. strikes by targeting Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, and Qatar.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi plans to discuss the strait with his Omani counterpart during a meeting in Oman on Saturday, according to Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told TRT that he believed "a solution can be reached" this weekend between Iran and Oman, which border opposite sides of the narrow waterway.
However, Araghchi accused the U.S. on Saturday of violating the interim deal by ending waivers that allowed Iran to sell crude oil on the open market using U.S. dollars; Washington implemented this in response to attacks on ships in the strait.
Araghchi wrote on X, "Reality check: There can only be mutual compliance."
The U.S. continues to urge mariners to use a southern route through Oman’s territorial waters to avoid Iranian waters and the jurisdiction of its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. This has provoked anger in Tehran and spurred attacks within the strait.
U.S. Insists Nuclear Deal Requires Uranium Transfer From Iran
The U.S. officials also informed journalists that any agreement concerning Iran's nuclear program would necessitate Tehran turning over its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, a demand Iran has repeatedly rejected.
Officials stated that if the U.S. fails to secure an agreement for the transfer of its nuclear material, it retains military options to ensure it remains permanently buried underground; these options were not detailed.
The uranium, enriched to near weapons-grade levels, is believed to be located at nuclear sites previously bombed by the U.S. in 2025. Iran has long maintained that its nuclear program is peaceful, despite the International Atomic Energy Agency noting that the Islamic Republic is the only nation enriching uranium to such a high degree without a weapons program.
The officials also insisted they would not reach a nuclear deal with Iran unless it first ceased attacking ships in the Strait of Hormuz.