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Marrakech – US President Donald Trump ordered the Navy on Thursday to fire on any Iranian boats placing mines in the Strait of Hormuz, marking a sharp escalation in the standoff over the critical waterway.
“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. There is to be no hesitation,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. He added that US minesweepers are already clearing the strait and ordered that effort tripled.
The directive came as Trump claimed “total control” over the waterway, stating that no ship can enter or leave without US Navy approval. He also took aim at Tehran’s leadership, saying Iran “is having a very hard time figuring out who their leader is,” citing internal divisions between hardliners and moderates.
Pentagon officials briefed lawmakers this week on an intelligence assessment warning it could take up to six months to fully clear the strait of mines after the war ends. US Central Command chief Admiral Bradley Cooper said last week the number of mines is “well within our ability to remove.”
Iran began laying mines in early March and could feasibly deploy hundreds, though even a small number can effectively shut the waterway as commercial operators refuse to take the risk.
Hours before Trump’s post, Tehran announced a milestone of its own. Iran’s deputy parliament speaker, Hamid-Reza Haji Babaei, confirmed the country’s central bank received its first revenue from tolls imposed on ships transiting the strait. He did not specify who paid or how much.
Senior Iranian MP Alireza Salimi said the fees vary depending on cargo type and risk level. The tolling system has drawn condemnation from the US and maritime law experts as a violation of international law.
The US military, meanwhile, continued its own interdiction campaign. The Defense Department announced overnight that forces boarded the sanctioned stateless vessel M/T Majestic X, carrying Iranian oil, in the Indian Ocean.
That operation followed the boarding of another sanctioned tanker, M/T Tifani, earlier in the week. US Central Command indicated it has redirected 31 vessels as part of the ongoing blockade of Iranian ports.
Despite the blockade, maritime analytics firm Kpler reported that Iran’s oil loading infrastructure remains intact and crude continues flowing to China at roughly 985,000 barrels per day. Iran’s Jask terminal, which bypasses the strait entirely, holds an all-time high of 5.8 million barrels in storage.
Oil prices rose on Thursday, with Brent crude climbing 1.9% to nearly $104 a barrel. US gas prices edged up to $4.03 a gallon, the first increase in two weeks.
The UN Development Program warned that more than 30 million people worldwide will be pushed back into poverty by the war’s economic effects, even if the conflict ends immediately. The agency cited spiking energy costs, disrupted fertilizer supplies, and falling remittances.
On a parallel diplomatic track, Israeli and Lebanese representatives are set to meet in Washington on Thursday for a second round of talks amid a fragile 10-day ceasefire. Lebanon plans to seek a one-month extension.
The UK and France, meanwhile, told military planners meeting in London that “practical military options” would be needed to reopen the strait.
Iran’s lead negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, has called the US blockade a violation of the ceasefire and the main obstacle to negotiations. Tehran has said it will not reopen the strait until the blockade is lifted. No date has been set for a second round of US-Iran talks.
