President Donald Trump said Thursday that he has ordered the United States Navy to "shoot and kill" any Iranian boats laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz amid a fragile ceasefire between the two countries.
Trump
stated on social media that the United States will intensify efforts to clear mines that have choked off global shipping, further ordering U.S. minesweepers to continue clearing the strait “at a tripled up level!”
The Strait of Hormuz has been a major point of contention in the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran. Before the war, about 20 percent of the world’s oil and natural gas flowed through the waterway.
According to Trump on Thursday, the United States has "total control" of the Strait.
"No ship can enter or leave without the approval of the United States Navy. It is ‘Sealed up Tight,’ until such time as Iran is able to make a DEAL!!!” the president wrote in a separate
post on Truth Social.The U.S. military’s Central Command (CENTCOM) announced its forces had directed 31 vessels to turn around or return to port as part of the U.S. blockade against Iran.
U.S. forces, as of Thursday, have now redirected
33 vessels since the start of the blockade against Iran, according to CENTCOM, further intensifying the maritime standoff between the two countries.
“Blockading Iranian ports is an act of war and thus a violation of the ceasefire,” Iranian foreign minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said in an April 21
statement. “Striking a commercial vessel and taking its crew hostage is an even greater violation. Iran knows how to neutralize restrictions, how to defend its interests, and how to resist bullying.”
Tehran attacked three commercial ships and seized two of them on Wednesday as the ongoing U.S. naval blockade remains the main obstacle to new peace talks.
Iranian state television broadcast footage of armed commandos storming a huge cargo ship overnight, flaunting its tightened grip of the Strait.
The conflict, launched by the United States and Israel on Feb. 28, has been halted since a fragile ceasefire on April 8, but Israel has warned that it’s ready to restart attacks.
Israel Defense Minister Katz said in a
video statement Thursday that it’s just waiting for the “green light” from the United States, saying this time around the attacks will be “different” and “lethal.”
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
