Washington DC - President Donald Trump issued another disturbing and genocidal threat, declaring that he plans to blow Iran "off the face of the Earth" if he doesn't get his way.

"If the Iranians try to target US ships in this area, they will be blown off the face of the Earth," Trump reportedly told Fox News reporter Trey Yingst on Monday while speaking about US efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump's new "Project Freedom" launched on Monday will see US vessels try to forge a safe path through the Strait so that international trade can begin again despite recent failures in peace negotiations.

The US effort could potentially free around 800 ships and more than 20,000 crew members who have remained stranded in the Persian Gulf since Trump launched a war of aggression against Iran more than two months ago.

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Tehran, which relies on the Strait of Hormuz as one of only a few levers of negotiation, has refused to allow the US to break the blockade, triggering a major flare up between Iranian and US forces on Monday.

"We have more weapons and ammunition at a much higher grade than we had before," Trump reportedly said, threatening a violent escalation.

"We have the best equipment. We have stuff all over the world. We have these bases all over the world. They're all stocked up with equipment. We can use all of that stuff, and we will, if we need it."

Yingst said Trump told him the Iranians are being "far more malleable than they were in the past, showing flexibility given US pressure," calling the US' blockade "the greatest military maneuver in history."

Trump's threats come only weeks after he appeared to threaten Iran with nuclear war if they didn't give him what he wanted ahead of a fragile and unstable ceasefire.