Trump issues ‘shoot and kill’ order in dramatic Hormuz escalation after US troops seized ship carrying Iranian oil amid unraveling ceasefire
Donald Trump is stepping up his push to cut off Iran from using the Strait of Hormuz by demanding the US Navy ‘shoot and kill’ any Iranian boat laying mines in the Persian Gulf.
Trump wrote on Truth Social: ‘I have ordered the United States Navy to shoot and kill any boat, small boats though they may be (Their naval ships are ALL, 159 of them, at the bottom of the sea!), that is putting mines in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz.’
‘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!’
US forces also seized another tanker caught smuggling the regime’s oil just one day after Tehran seized two vessels of its own.
The Pentagon on Thursday released video of US naval forces boarding the oil tanker Majestic X in the Indian Ocean. The ship was reportedly carrying oil produced by the Iranian regime.
‘We will continue global maritime enforcement to disrupt illicit networks and interdict vessels providing material support to Iran, wherever they operate,’ the Pentagon wrote on X.
The Pentagon warned that sanctioned actors cannot use international waters as cover, vowing to keep blocking ‘illicit actors and their vessels’ from operating freely at sea.
Global oil prices began to skyrocket on Thursday as uncertainty remains for a potential prolonged peace agreement between the US and Iran. The price of Brent crude rose above $103 a barrel on Thursday morning, up 1.3 percent.
A day prior, Iran had retaliated against Trump’s naval blockade of Hormuz by attacking three oil tankers and seizing two vessels
Masked fighters are seen racing toward the MSC-Francesca ship by using a gunboat before climbing its hull with rifles strapped to their backs
