Trump orders US military to ‘shoot and kill’ Iranian small boats choking Strait of Hormuz

“I have ordered the United States Navy to shoot down and kill any boat, no matter how small… that is laying mines in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump said in a social media post on Thursday.

“There should be no hesitation. Furthermore, our ‘minesweepers’ are currently clearing the Strait. I hereby order that activity to continue, but at a tripled level!”

The Defense Department has released video footage of US troops 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 ships providing material support to Iran wherever they operate,” a Pentagon statement said.

Ship records show the Majestic It was headed 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 on the Islamic Republic.

There was no immediate response from Iran to news of the seizure.

It comes a day after Iran attacked three cargo ships in the strait and captured two, in a move that intensified its assault on shipping in the key waterway through which 20 percent of the world’s oil trade passes in peacetime.

On Tuesday, Trump extended a ceasefire while maintaining the US blockade of Iranian ports. There was no immediate sign that peace talks, previously hosted by Pakistan, would resume soon.

The standoff between the US and Iran has effectively choked off virtually all cross-strait exports, with no end in sight.

Since the start of the war between Iran, Israel and the United States on February 28, more than thirty ships have been attacked in the waters of the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman.

The threat of attack, rising insurance premiums and other fears have kept 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 proven to be a major strategic advantage.

The ceasefire has come under pressure due to the duels between US attacks on Iranian ships and Iran’s attacks on commercial ships. It also remains unclear when or if the two sides will meet again in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad, where officials say they are still trying to bring the countries together to reach a diplomatic deal.

The conflict has already caused gas prices to skyrocket far beyond the region and increased the cost of food and a wide range of other products. Officials around the world have warned that the impact on businesses, consumers and economies could be long-lasting.

Iran’s exiled crown prince exploded in Germany

On Thursday, Iran’s exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi was splashed with red liquid as he left a building after a press conference in Berlin.

The suspected perpetrator was immediately arrested by the police.

At the event, Pahlavi criticized the US-Iran ceasefire, arguing that the agreement assumes that the Iranian government’s behavior will change and “you are dealing with people who have suddenly become pragmatists.”

Pahlavi, 65, has lived in exile for almost fifty years.

His father, the Iranian Shah, was so widely hated that millions took to the streets in 1979 and forced him from power.

Nevertheless, Pahlavi is trying to position himself as a player in his country’s future.

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