Donald Trump has alleged that Iran’s navy has been effectively destroyed, claiming in a speech that dozens of its ships had been sunk by American forces.

He said he had asked “our people” why the vessels were not captured, but claimed that he was told it was “more fun” to sink them.

“The Navy is gone. It’s all lying at the bottom of the ocean, 46 ships,” he said.

“I said, why don’t we just capture the ship? Why did we sink.. He said: ‘It’s more fun to sink them.’

“They like sinking them better. They say it’s safer to sink them. I guess it’s probably true, but the Navy is gone.”

South Korea cannot prevent US forces stationed in the country from redeploying some weapons, president Lee Jae Myung said on Tuesday.

His comments come following reports that Patriot missile defence systems were being moved to the Middle East.

Speaking at a cabinet meeting, Lee said: “It appears that there is controversy recently over US Forces in ​Korea shipping some weapons, such as artillery batteries and air-defence weapons, out of the country.”

He said that while ​Seoul had expressed opposition, it was not in a position to make demands, according to Reuters.

Lee also said the withdrawal of some US weapons from South Korea “does not hinder deterrence strategy towards North Korea”.

In a post on Truth Social Monday night, the U.S. president vowed to all but wipe out the Islamic Republic unless it fully re-opens the Strait of Hormuz, a critical sea lane for oil exports from Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and other Gulf petrostates.

On Monday, the US state department ordered the departure of US diplomats and their families from the consulate in Adana in southern Turkey, near Incirlik air base, where US and Nato forces are stationed.

Last Wednesday, Turkey intercepted a missile from Iran that, according to a senior US official, was targeting the base.

On Monday, Turkey reported shooting down a second Iranian missile that had entered its airspace.

Earlier, US diplomats were instructed to depart from missions in Saudi Arabia, following earlier mandatory departure orders for Iraq, Jordan, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Lebanon.

French president Emmanuel Macron has ordered an “unprecedented” naval deployment to the Strait of Hormuz following Iranian attacks on ships passing through the crucial narrow passage.

The operation, which includes the flagship aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, aims to “guarantee freedom of navigation and maritime ‌security”, Macron said during a visit to a military air base in Cyprus.

French vessels will join US forces in the region as they seek to reopen the crucial maritime route.

Macron said: “We are in the process of setting up a purely defensive, purely escort mission, which must be prepared together with both European and non-European states, and whose purpose is to enable, as soon as possible after the most intense phase of the conflict has ended, the escort of container ships and tankers to gradually reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

“Our objective is to maintain a strictly defensive stance, standing alongside all countries attacked by Iran in its retaliation, to ensure our credibility, and to contribute to regional de-escalation. Ultimately, we aim to guarantee freedom of navigation and maritime ‌security.”

US senator Lindsey Graham has questioned whether the US should uphold its defence agreement with Saudi Arabia, criticising the kingdom for refusing to join military operations against Iran.

On X, he said that “Americans are dying and the US is spending billions to dislodge the terrorist Iranian regime. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia seems to be issuing statements and doing things in the background that are marginally helpful”.

He continued: “Hopefully Gulf Cooperation Council countries will get more involved as this fight is in their backyard.”The post ended with a warning: “If not, consequences will follow.”

Pakistani warships have started escorting the country’s merchant vessels through the Middle East as regional conflict disrupts oil tanker traffic.

With the nation heavily dependent on energy imports from the Gulf, the government has introduced broad fuel-saving measures, including closing schools, while the war continues.

On Monday, the country’s navy said that the operation was launched to ensure the country’s energy supplies were not interrupted.

“Pakistan Navy has launched Operation Muhafiz-ul-Bahr to counter multidimensional threats to national shipping and maritime trade. The initiative has been undertaken to ensure the uninterrupted flow of national energy supplies and the security of Sea Lines of Communication,” a spokesperson for Pakistan Navy said in a Facebook post.

Donald Trump said on Monday that the war would go on at least for another week, soon after he suggested that the war would end “very soon”.

“We’ve already won in many ways, but we haven’t won enough,” he told a gathering of Republican lawmakers in Florida.

“We go forward more determined than ever to achieve ultimate victory that will end this long-running danger once and for all.”

Iran, on the other hand, has refuted Trump’s claim that their missiles are declining and instead claimed that its missiles were getting more powerful.

US vice president JD Vance was present as the body of the seventh US service member killed in the war with Iran arrived at Dover Air Force Base on Monday evening.

Sgt Benjamin N Pennington sustained critical injuries during an attack on Saudi Arabia’s Prince Sultan Air Base and later succumbed to those wounds, officials reported.

Earlier, six American troops were killed in an Iranian drone strike on a base in Kuwait.

According to an Iranian official, US and Israeli operations in Iran have resulted in roughly 1,300 fatalities, while Iranian attacks throughout the Middle East have claimed more than 30 lives.

Donald Trump has again suggested, without evidence, that Iran bombed an elementary school in Minab on 28 February, killing 175 people, including many children.

Video evidence verified by The New York Times shows a Tomahawk missile struck a naval base near the school.

Tomahawks are developed by the United States, and only a few allies possess them; Iran does not have Tomahawks but has its own distinct domestically produced cruise missiles.

Earlier, US Senator John Kennedy, a Louisiana Republican, admitted America “made a mistake” when a girls’ school in Iran was bombed.

US military investigators reportedly believe American forces were likely responsible for the strike in Minab late last month.