By AP April 23, 2026, 7:28:43 PM IST (Published)
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 came shortly after the U.S. military seized another tanker associated with the smuggling of Iranian oil, ratcheting up a standoff with Tehran over the strait through which about 20% of all crude oil and natural gas traded passes.
“I have ordered the United States Navy to shoot and kill any boat, small boats though they may be…that is putting mines in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump posted. “There is to be no hesitation. Additionally, our mine ‘sweepers’ are clearing the Strait right now.”
“I am hereby ordering that activity to continue, but at a tripled up level!” Trump added. He also said the military is intensifying mine-clearing operations in the critical waterway.
The move comes a day after Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guards attacked three cargo ships in the strait, capturing two of them.
The Defense Department released video Thursday of U.S. forces on the deck of the Guinea-flagged oil tanker Majestic X, which was seized in the Indian Ocean. “We will continue 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 in the Indian Ocean between Sri Lanka and Indonesia, roughly the same area where the oil tanker Tifani was earlier seized by American forces. Majestic X had been bound for Zhoushan, China. The vessel previously had been named Phonix and was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2024 for smuggling Iranian crude oil in contravention of U.S. sanctions.
There was no immediate response from Iran on the seizure.
On Tuesday, Trump extended a ceasefire while maintaining an American blockade of Iranian ports. There was no immediate sign whether peace talks, previously hosted by Pakistan, would resume.
The standoff between the U.S. and Iran has effectively choked off nearly all exports through the strait with no end in sight.
On Thursday, Iran’s exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi was splattered with red liquid as he left a building after a news conference in Berlin; the alleged perpetrator was immediately detained by police. During the event, Pahlavi criticized the ceasefire, arguing the agreement assumes the Iranian government’s behavior will change and “you’re going to deal with people who all of a sudden have become pragmatists.”
Pahlavi, 65, has been in exile for nearly 50 years. His father, Iran’s shah, was driven from power in 1979 after mass protests. Pahlavi is trying to position himself as a player in his country’s future.
Since the Feb. 28 start of the war involving Iran, Israel and the United States, more than 30 ships have come under attack in the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman. The threat of attack, rising insurance premiums and other fears have stopped traffic from moving through the strait. Iran’s ability to restrict traffic through the channel, which leads from the Persian Gulf to the open ocean, has proved a major strategic advantage.
The ceasefire has been strained by dueling U.S. attacks on Iranian ships and Iranian attacks on commercial vessels. It also remains unclear when, or if, the two sides will meet again in Islamabad, where officials say they are still trying to bring the countries together to reach a diplomatic deal.
The conflict already has sent gas prices sharply higher beyond the region and raised the cost of food and a wide array of other products. Officials around the world have warned the impact to businesses, consumers and economies could be long-lasting.
