President Donald Trump said Thursday he has ordered the U.S. military to “shoot and kill” small Iranian boats that deploy mines to choke traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump’s post on social media got here shortly after the U.S. military seized one other tanker related to the smuggling of Iranian oil, ratcheting up a standoff with Tehran over the strait through which 20 per cent of all crude oil and natural gas traded passes.
“I even have ordered the US Navy to shoot and kill any boat, small boats though they could be…that’s putting mines within the waters of the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump posted. “There may be to be no hesitation. Moreover, our mine ‘sweepers’ are clearing the Strait at once.”
“I’m hereby ordering that activity to proceed, but at a tripled up level!” Trump added.
He also said the military is intensifying mine clearing operations within the critical waterway.
The move comes a day after Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guards attacked three cargo ships within the strait, capturing two of them.
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The Defense Department released video footage earlier on Thursday of U.S. forces on the deck of the Guinea-flagged oil tanker Majestic X, which was seized within the Indian Ocean.
“We are going to proceed global maritime enforcement to disrupt illicit networks and interdict vessels providing material support to Iran, wherever they operate,” a Pentagon statement said.
Ship-tracking data showed the Majestic X within the Indian Ocean between Sri Lanka and Indonesia, roughly the identical location because the oil tanker Tifani, earlier seized by American forces. It had been certain for Zhoushan, China.
The vessel previously had been named Phonix and had been sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2024 for smuggling Iranian crude oil in contravention of U.S. sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
There was no immediate response from Iran on the news of the seizure.
On Tuesday, Trump prolonged a ceasefire while maintaining an American blockade of Iranian ports. There was no immediate sign whether peace talks, previously hosted by Pakistan, would resume anytime soon.
The standoff between the U.S. and Iran has effectively choked off nearly all exports through the strait for ever and ever.
On Thursday, Iran’s exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi was splattered with red liquid as he left a constructing after a news conference in Berlin. The alleged perpetrator was immediately detained by police.
Through the event, Pahlavi criticized the ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran, arguing that the agreement assumes the Iranian government’s behavior will change and “you’re going to cope with individuals who unexpectedly have grow to be pragmatists.”
Pahlavi, 65, has been in exile for nearly 50 years. His father, Iran’s shah, was so widely hated that tens of millions took to the streets in 1979, forcing him from power. Nevertheless, Pahlavi is attempting to position himself as a player in his country’s future.
Because the Feb. 28 start of the war between Iran, Israel and the US, over 30 ships have come under attack within the waters of the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman.
The specter of attack, rising insurance premiums and other fears have stopped traffic from moving through the strait. Iran’s ability to restrict traffic through the strait, which leads from the Persian Gulf to the open ocean, has proved a significant strategic advantage.
The ceasefire has been strained by dueling U.S. attacks on Iranian ships and people by Iran on business vessels. It also stays unclear when, or if, the 2 sides will meet again within the Pakistani capital Islamabad, where officials say they’re still attempting to bring the countries together to succeed in a diplomatic deal.
The conflict already has sent gas prices skyrocketing far beyond the region and raised the fee of food and a big selection of other products. Officials world wide have warned the impact to businesses, consumers and economies may very well be long-lasting.
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