By Agencies and published by CNA
WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump on Thursday (April 23) said he had ordered the US Navy “to shoot and kill any boat” that is laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz, and that US minesweepers were working “at a tripled-up level” to clear any mines from the waters.
“I have ordered the US 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, adding that all of Iran’s naval ships were at the bottom of the sea.
“There is to be no hesitation. Additionally, our mine ‘sweepers’ are clearing the Strait right now.”
Trump also said, without providing any evidence, that the US had “total control” over 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!!!,” he wrote.
The Washington Post earlier reported that it could take six months to completely clear the Strait of Hormuz of Iranian-laid mines, citing a Pentagon assessment.
Lawmakers were told that Iran may have placed 20 or more mines in and around the strait, some floated remotely using GPS technology which makes them harder to detect, according to the report.
A Pentagon spokesman told the AFP that the Post report was based on a “classified, closed briefing” but much of the information was “false”.
“A six-month closure of the Strait of Hormuz is an impossibility and completely unacceptable to the Secretary,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement shared with AFP, denying the report.
Iran shows off control over strait
Iran flaunted its tightened grip over the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday with video of its commandos storming a huge cargo ship, after the collapse of peace talks that Washington had hoped would open the world’s most important shipping corridor.
State television broadcast footage overnight of masked troops pulling up in a grey speedboat alongside the MSC Francesca, climbing a rope ladder to a shell door in the hull and jumping through brandishing rifles.
The footage, presented with an action-movie-style soundtrack and no commentary, also included views of another ship, the Epaminondas. Iran said it had captured both on Wednesday, accusing them of trying to cross the strait without permits.
Washington, whch has been confronting Iranian ships in international waters to enforce a blockade of its own, said it had boarded another tanker, the Majestic, in the Indian Ocean on Thursday. That appeared to be a reference to a supertanker, also called the Phoenix, last reported off the coast of Sri Lanka carrying 2 million barrels of crude.
Tehran says it will not consider opening the strait until the US lifts its blockade of Iran’s shipping, which Washington imposed during the ceasefire and Tehran calls a violation of that truce.
Trump cancelled threats to restart attacks on Iran in the ceasefire’s final hours on Tuesday but refuses to lift the blockade. There has been no formal extension of the ceasefire, and no plans have been announced for further talks.
The standoff between the US and Iran has effectively choked off nearly all exports through the strait, normally the route for a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas, with no end in sight.
Since the Feb. 28 start of the war between Iran, Israel and the United States, over 30 ships have come under attack 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 stopped 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 proved a major strategic advantage.
The ceasefire has been strained by duelling US attacks on Iranian ships and those by Iran on commercial vessels. It also remains unclear when, or if, the two sides will meet again in the Pakistani capital Islamabad, where officials say they are still trying to bring the countries together to reach a diplomatic deal.
CAPTIONS:
Top – Ships and boats in the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Musandam, Oman, on April 20, 2026. File photo: Reuters and published by CNA
First insert – US President Donald Trump listens in the Oval Office of the White House, on Saturday, April 18, 2026, in Washington. Photo: AP/Julia Demaree Nikhinson and published by CNA
Second insert – A satellite image shows a fleet of small boats at sea, north of the Strait of Hormuz near the Kargan coast, Iran, on April 22, 2026. Image: Reuters/European Union/Copernicus Sentinel-2/Handout and published by CNA
Front Page – A police officer walks past billboards near the Serena Hotel ahead of the anticipated second round of negotiations between the US and Iran, in Islamabad, Pakistan on April 21, 2026. Photo: AP/Anjum Naveed and published by CNA
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