US President Donald Trump has claimed he ordered the United States Navy to 'shoot and kill' any Iranian boat laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz, a move that could jeopardize the fragile ceasefire between the two countries. The US president also stated on Thursday that the military will intensify efforts to remove explosives from the strategic waterway.
'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,' Trump wrote in a social media post. He further claimed that US mine sweepers are clearing the strait and ordered the activity to continue at a 'tripled-up level.'
Iranian officials have repeatedly vowed to defend their country and respond to any US attack. The Strait of Hormuz, which had been open without interruption before the war, has emerged as a major point of contention. Iran closed the strait in response to the US-Israeli military campaign and now asserts rights to the passage linking the Gulf to the Indian Ocean, parts of which run through its territorial waters.
The closure of Hormuz has spiked oil prices, putting political pressure on Trump domestically, where the price of a gallon of petrol has surpassed $4, up from $3 before the conflict. Approximately 20% of the world's oil and natural gas flowed through Hormuz before the war. After a two-week ceasefire took effect last month, Trump announced a naval siege on Iranian ports and maintained it even after Tehran reopened Hormuz in response to Lebanon's inclusion in the truce.
Iran has set lifting the blockade as a precondition for resuming talks with the US. Trump extended the ceasefire set to expire on Wednesday, but Washington kept its blockade on Iran-linked ships. The Pentagon said on Thursday that the US military conducted a 'maritime interdiction and right-of-visit' to a tanker carrying Iranian oil in the Indian Ocean. Earlier this week, the US military also claimed to have seized an Iranian vessel and ordered dozens of others to turn around.
Meanwhile, Iran has captured foreign commercial vessels around the Hormuz Strait, which it said were in violation of naval regulations. The dueling blockades risk reigniting the war. The White House said on Wednesday that Trump is 'satisfied' with the siege on Iran. Despite Trump's repeated claims of total control over the Strait of Hormuz and internal divisions within Iranian leadership, there has been no evidence of a rift. Iranian officials, including lead negotiators, have voiced a unified position rejecting the US blockade.
Source: www.aljazeera.com