Trump says US will hit any Iran boats deploying mines
US President Donald Trump said that he ordered the US military to “shoot and kill” small Iranian boats that were laying mines to block traffic in the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump’s early morning social media post came shortly after the U.S. military seized another tanker linked to smuggling Iranian oil, adding to a standoff across the strait through which 20 percent of all crude oil and natural gas trade passes.
“I have ordered the US Navy to shoot and kill any boat, including small boats that mine the waters of the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump said.
“Don’t hesitate. Besides, our minesweeping teams are currently clearing the Bosphorus.”
“I hereby order that this activity continue to increase threefold!” Trump added.
He also said the military was intensifying demining operations in the critical waterway.
His post made no mention of steps to deal with other means Iran uses to disrupt shipping along the route (particularly speedboats, missiles and drones).
The move came a day after Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard attacked three cargo ships in the strait and captured two of them.
State television broadcast overnight that masked troops pulled up next to MSC Francesca in a gray speedboat, climbed a rope ladder to the shell hatch in the hull and jumped through rifles.
The images, presented with action movie-style music and without commentary, also included images of another ship, the Epaminondas.
Iran said it captured both of them on Wednesday and accused them of trying to cross the strait without permission.
Iran’s judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei said commercial ships attacked in the strait “face the law”.
Iranian speedboats and naval drones took shelter in sea caves off an island near the strait and prevented the US navy from approaching, it said.
The US Department of Defense released video footage of US forces on board the Majestic X, a Guinean-flagged oil tanker seized in the Indian Ocean, early Thursday.
“We will continue global maritime sanctions to disrupt illicit networks and ban ships providing material support to Iran wherever they operate,” the Pentagon said in a statement.
Ship tracking data showed that the Majestic
He was going to Zhoushan, China.
The ship was previously named Phonix and was sanctioned by the US Treasury Department in 2024 for smuggling Iranian crude oil in violation of US sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
On Tuesday, Trump extended the ceasefire while continuing the US blockade of Iranian ports.
There was no indication yet whether the peace talks, previously hosted by Pakistan, would resume anytime soon.
The conflict between the US and Iran has effectively halted almost all exports through the strait and has no end in sight.
More than 30 ships have been attacked in the waters of the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman since the war between Iran, Israel and the USA began on February 28.
via Reuters
