Donald Trump orders the US Navy to fire on ships laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz. Minesweepers are supposed to speed up route clearing three times.
US President Donald Trump has ordered the US Navy to destroy ships that lay mines in the Strait of Hormuz. At the same time, according to his words, American minesweepers are currently “cleaning” this strategic strait, writes TASR.
“I have ordered the United States Navy to shoot and destroy every ship, no matter how small (Their warships are ALL, 159 of them, on the bottom of the sea!) that is laying mines in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz. There is no need to hesitate. In addition, our ‘minesweepers’ are clearing the strait right now. I hereby order this activity to continue, but at a triple level,” he wrote on the Truth Social social network.
Tension in the strait
Trump had already announced on April 12 that he had ordered the US Navy to “locate and seize any vessel in international waters that has paid a transit fee to Iran” while passing through the strait. But a few days earlier, Trump himself had suggested that the US and Iran could set up a joint venture to collect tolls in the strait.
The Strait of Hormuz, a key energy hub, has become a major flashpoint of tension since the outbreak of war in the Middle East on February 28. Before the current ceasefire, Tehran said it had restricted passage to “hostile” countries only, and there were reports of tariffs being imposed on other vessels passing through the sea route. However, it was not clear at the time whether Iran was actually collecting the fees, or how much.
Armistice and negotiations
The head of the White House on Tuesday extended a two-week ceasefire in the war with Iran just before it expired. According to him, the aim was to give Tehran more time to present a unified proposal for negotiations.
The American newspaper New York Post on Wednesday, citing anonymous Pakistani sources and Trump, wrote that the second round of US-Iranian negotiations could take place in the next three days.
