U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday that he has ordered the Navy to attack any small vessels in the Strait of Hormuz that may be deploying mines and said they will intensify sea lane clearance operations.
“I have ordered the U.S. Navy to shoot and sink any vessel that is laying mines in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz, no matter how small (their warships, all 159 of them, are ALL on the bottom of the sea!). There should be no hesitation,” Trump announced on his Social Truth network.
USA intensifies operations in Hormuz
The Republican warned that U.S. “minesweepers” “are clearing the strait at this very moment.”
And he ordered that the “activity should continue, but at a tripled level!”
In a second message, posted minutes later, Trump reiterated that the leadership in Iran is divided, with “serious difficulty in determining” who is in charge.
And he mentioned the “internal struggle” between the “moderates” and the “‘hardliners,’ who have been losing miserably on the battlefield.”
“We have full control of the Strait of Hormuz. No ship can enter or leave without the approval of the U.S. Navy.”
“It is ‘totally sealed’ until Iran is able to reach an AGREEMENT,” the president said.
USA pressure on Iran escalates
Trump’s publications come shortly after the Pentagon announced today the interception and boarding of a tanker carrying Iranian crude oil in the Indian Ocean.
The second sanctioned ship linked to Tehran to be seized by the U.S. in the Indo-Pacific in three days.
The United States has increased pressure and is seeking to cut off funding to Iran during the cease-fire in the war it initiated with Israel on February 28.
Trump ordered a total blockade of the Islamic Republic’s shores following a first round of negotiations that ended without results in Islamabad.
And after Tehran interrupted the passage through the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic route through which 20% of the world’s crude oil passes.
Escalates the conflict
For its part, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard announced the day before the capture of two ships and attacks on another tanker in that passage, which it also claims to control.
The U.S. president reported Sunday that the U.S. Navy fired on and seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship that attempted to break through the fence.
There must be no hesitation
Donald Trump
In total, the U.S. has disrupted the passage of at least 31 ships since it initiated the naval blockade of Iran.
It involves more than 10,000 U.S. military personnel, some 17 warships and 100 aircraft.
This according to figures published on Wednesday by the Central Command (Centcom).
Trump extended indefinitely the ceasefire with Iran until the Islamic Republic’s government presents him with a unified proposal for an agreement.
And he said there is a possibility that peace talks could resume next Friday in Pakistan.
With information from EFE
For more information, visit QuéOnnda.com
