Trump and Ali Larijani Trade Threats on Social Media Over Strait of Hormuz
Tehran — High-ranking officials engaged in the conflict between the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran have escalated their dispute through social media as well. US President Donald Trump has recently issued repeated threats of multiplied military strikes against Tehran if the Mullah-led government continues restricting access for oil tankers transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump, through his official social media account on Truth Social, delivered further threats against Iran. He stated that Iran must open the Strait of Hormuz and not interfere with global oil traffic.
“If Iran does anything to stop the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz, they will be hit by the United States twenty times harder than they have been so far,” Trump wrote on Monday, 9 March 2026.
Trump’s post was reposted by Ali Larijani on his X social media account on Tuesday, 10 March 2026. In continuation of his written threats, Trump stated that the US would further devastate Iran by targeting critical facilities until the country could no longer recover.
“Beyond that, we will destroy targets that would make it impossible for Iran to be rebuilt as a nation, death, fire, and fury will befall them,” Trump added.
However, Trump noted that such action could be avoided if Iran complied with his threats. He emphasised that Iran must immediately open the Strait of Hormuz, as the Persian Gulf region is vital for global fuel mobility from and to all parts of the world.
Trump alluded to China receiving a gift from US threats against Iran regarding the Strait of Hormuz. “This (the threat to Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz) is a gift from the United States to China, and all nations that depend heavily on the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump stated.
Ali Larijani, as Head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, responded to Trump’s written threats. He asserted that Iran is not a nation susceptible to intimidation or threats.
Moreover, the threats came only from Trump himself. Larijani countered the US threats by emphasising that Trump’s warnings meant nothing to Iran. “The Ashura nation of Iran does not fear your empty threats,” Larijani wrote on his social media account.
He stressed that neither Trump alongside the US and its allies, nor any group believing itself stronger could subdue Iran. “Even those mightier than you will never be able to eliminate the Iranian nation,” Larijani said.
Rather than expressing fear, Ali Larijani instead reminded Trump to remain cautious about his own fate. “Take care of yourself, lest it be you who is eliminated,” Larijani wrote in Persian and Arabic.
US military aggression alongside Zionist Israel has now entered its eleventh day as of Wednesday, 11 March 2026. US-Zionist forces continue launching attacks on Iranian territories, targeting various military facilities and Iranian resource sites.
US-Zionist strikes frequently hit civilian facilities, killing ordinary citizens. These attacks have resulted in approximately one thousand civilian deaths, including hundreds of schoolchildren, with thousands more wounded.
Iran remains in a defensive position but retaliates by launching missiles with significant explosive power into the Zionist-occupied territories in the Palestinian region. Iran also continues to fight by launching advanced missiles at US military bases scattered across Arab Gulf countries where US military positions are stationed to attack Iran. In this position, since the start of the conflict, Iran has employed economic tactics by closing the Strait of Hormuz.
The Strait of Hormuz is a passage in the Persian Gulf serving as a transit route for oil tanker ships carrying fuel from the Arab Gulf to the entire world. The Strait of Hormuz controls more than 20 per cent of global crude oil access.
Iran’s military, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), has prohibited ships of any flag from transiting the Strait of Hormuz. Several global oil tanker ships have become targets of Iranian bombing, particularly those representing economic assets of the US and its allies in the Arab Gulf.
Recently, Iran permitted tanker ships flying the flags of friendly nations, such as China and Russia, to transit. Iran has also recently allowed tanker ships flying Arab nation flags to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. However, this comes with compulsory conditions: the expulsion of US military forces from Arab countries and the prohibition of further US military base construction in Arab nations.