Trump orders US military to 'shoot and kill' Iranian small boats choking Strait of Hormuz
Dubai (AP): President Donald Trump said Thursday he has ordered the US military to “shoot and kill” small Iranian boats that deploy mines to choke traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump's post on social media came shortly after the US military seized another tanker associated with the smuggling of Iranian oil, ratcheting up a standoff with Tehran over the strait through which 20 per cent of all crude oil and natural gas traded passes.
“I have ordered the United States 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. “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!” Trump added.
He also said the military is intensifying mine clearing operations in the critical waterway.
The move comes a day after Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guards attacked three cargo ships in the strait, capturing two of them.
The Defence Department released video footage earlier on Thursday of US forces on the deck of the Guinea-flagged oil tanker Majestic X, which was seized in the Indian Ocean.
“We will continue global maritime enforcement to disrupt illicit networks and interdict vessels providing material support to Iran, wherever they operate,” a Pentagon statement said.
Ship-tracking data showed the Majestic X in the Indian Ocean between Sri Lanka and Indonesia, roughly the same location as the oil tanker Tifani, earlier seized by American forces. It had been bound for Zhoushan, China.
The vessel previously had been named Phonix and had been sanctioned by the US Treasury Department in 2024 for smuggling Iranian crude oil in contravention of US sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
There was no immediate response from Iran on the news of the seizure.
On Tuesday, Trump extended a ceasefire while maintaining an American blockade of Iranian ports. There was no immediate sign whether peace talks, previously hosted by Pakistan, would resume anytime soon.
The standoff between the US and Iran has effectively choked off nearly all exports through the strait with no end in sight.
On Thursday, Iran's exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi was splattered with red liquid as he left a building after a news conference in Berlin. The alleged perpetrator was immediately detained by police.
During the event, Pahlavi criticised the ceasefire between the US and Iran, arguing that the agreement assumes the Iranian government's behaviour will change and “you're going to deal with people who all of a sudden have become pragmatists.”
Pahlavi, 65, has been in exile for nearly 50 years. His father, Iran's shah, was so widely hated that millions took to the streets in 1979, forcing him from power. Nevertheless, Pahlavi is trying to position himself as a player in his country's future.
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.
The conflict already has sent gas prices skyrocketing far beyond the region and raised the cost of food and a wide array of other products. Officials around the world have warned the impact to businesses, consumers and economies could be long-lasting.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Polling held so far in first phase of Bengal polls indicates TMC already in position to win: Mamata
Kolkata (PTI): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday asserted that polling held so far in the first phase of the assembly polls indicates the TMC is already in a position to win.
Banerjee, also the Trinamool Congress supremo, said at a rally in Bow Bazar area of Kolkata that she will conquer Delhi taking along all opposition parties, after winning the election.
A voter turnout of 89.93 per cent was recorded till 5 pm, as polling was underway in 152 of the 294 assembly seats in phase 1. The next round will take place on April 29, while counting will be held on May 4.
"From my understanding of people's mind, we are already in a position to win given the polling held so far today," Banerjee said.
"I am not interested in any post, I don't want the chair. I only want the end of BJP government in Delhi," she said.
Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, speaking at a rally in Krishnanagar, congratulated the people of West Bengal for the massive turnout in the first phase of the polls, terming it an "overwhelming mandate for change".
Banerjee, however, asserted that people voted in good numbers to protest the deletion of names in the SIR exercise, claiming that her efforts led to inclusion of 32 lakh names in the voter list.
"On the day of the polls, you (PM) are saying you will win; can you say this?" Banerjee said, adding, "How can the BJP be so naive."
Responding to Modi’s remarks that the BJP’s Bengal unit would hold victory celebrations on May 4 after the counting of votes gets over, and the party would distribute among people not just sweets, but also ‘jhalmuri’, the CM said: "I will send ‘bhelpuri’ (popular street food) to you, it is available in Delhi."
The PM had savoured ‘jhalmuri’ (another popular street snack) at an unscheduled stop during his visit to Jhargram last week.
At the Krishnanagar rally on Thursday, Modi also said: “I have heard that even ‘jhalmuri’ has given certain individuals a thunderous jolt. I had 'jhalmuri', but it seems that the TMC leaders are feeling heat of the chillies.”
Replying to the PM, Banerjee said “we are used to jhalmuri's spiciness”.
Speaking at another rally in Tollygunj constituency, Banerjee said she has always championed the cause of people and will continue to do so.
"They (the BJP) have been bothering Bengal for the last 12 years," the TMC chief said, maintaining that the BJP-led government at the Centre was not releasing the state’s pending dues.
Criticising the PM, Banerjee said that while on one hand he talks about lawlessness in Bengal, and on the other, he says that peaceful polls were held.
Noting that 90 lakh names were deleted from the electoral rolls during the SIR process, Banerjee said even those who never used to go to vote came out to exercise their franchise in the first phase on Thursday.
"We will win on their votes, no other party will win. Why will the TMC not win? We will surely win," she asserted.
Banerjee added that she was not concerned with the record number of central force deployment for the assembly polls. "It is the people who will cast the votes and not the police or the CAPF."
