{"id":10347,"date":"2026-04-24T16:29:19","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T16:29:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/range\/us-navy-ordered-to-shoot-and-kill-alleged-iranian-mine-laying-boats-amid-ceasefire\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T16:29:19","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T16:29:19","slug":"us-navy-ordered-to-shoot-and-kill-alleged-iranian-mine-laying-boats-amid-ceasefire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/range\/us-navy-ordered-to-shoot-and-kill-alleged-iranian-mine-laying-boats-amid-ceasefire\/","title":{"rendered":"US Navy ordered to \u2018shoot and kill\u2019 alleged Iranian mine-laying boats amid ceasefire"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The U.S. Navy has been ordered to gun down any speedboats suspected of laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz during the ceasefire; it will also continue its blockade of Iranian ports \u201cfor as long as it takes,\u201d Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Friday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

U.S. Central Command announced on Friday that the carriers Abraham Lincoln, Gerald R. Ford, and George H.W. Bush are all in the Middle East, the first time in decades that three have operated in the region. Hegseth said during the Pentagon press briefing that as the number of warships participating in the blockade grows, the U.S.was \u201cnot anxious for a deal\u201d and its military had \u201call the time in the world\u201d as the war extended into its 55th day.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut with this blockade, the clock is not on their side,\u201d the secretary said. \u201cMoreover, President Trump has authorized the United States Navy to destroy any Iranian fast boats that attempt to put mines in the water or disrupt passage through the Strait of Hormuz, to shoot and kill.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hegseth declined to say when the blockade would end. He said the operation would continue for \u201cas long as it takes,\u201d just as Trump has indefinitely extended the ceasefire with Iran until they submit a new proposal for negotiations. Since the blockade began last week, the U.S. has turned around 34 ships, and interdicted at least three vessels.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cTransit is occurring, but more limited than anybody would like to see, and with more risk than people would like to see, but that’s because Iran is doing irresponsible things with small, fast boats,\u201d Hegseth said. \u201cThis is a real full blockade. We’ll use up to and including lethal force if necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hegseth also took a dig at allies and said the war in Iran\u2014which was started by the United States and Israel\u2014\u201cshould not be America’s fight alone.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not counting on Europe, but they need the Strait of Hormuz much more than we do, and might want to start doing less, talking, having less fancy conferences in Europe and get in a boat,\u201d Hegseth said. \u201cThis is much more their fight than ours.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gen. Dan Caine, the Joint Chiefs chairman, told reporters that the U.S. military had used force against three vessels that were using deceptive shipping methods.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, U.S. Marines boarded the Touska, a 965-foot Iranian container ship, after the crew failed to heed the U.S. Navy\u2019s warning shots. A destroyer fired nine rounds from its Mark 45 surface guns into the ship\u2019s engine room and it was subsequently boarded. The crew and vessel remain in U.S. custody, Caine said.<\/p>\n

The next day, a Navy control team took over a tanker, the Botswana-controlled and aircraft carrier-sized Tifani, in the Indian Ocean at the request of the Justice Department, Caine said. It was carrying sanctioned Iranian oil, he said.<\/p>\n

Another ship, a very large crude carrier known as Majestic X, was interdicted by U.S. forces in the Indian Ocean on Wednesday. The chairman did not disclose the cargo of that stateless ship, but said all the vessels and crews were in U.S. custody.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will continue to conduct similar maritime interdiction actions and activities in the Pacific and Indian Oceans against Iranian ships and vessels of the dark fleet,\u201d Caine said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The U.S. has used naval blockades against Cuba and Venezuela, but neither has had the desired effect, said Jennifer Kavanagh, a senior fellow and director of military analysis at Defense Priorities. Cuba has not yet had a change in leadership and the covert military capture of former Venezuelan Nicol\u00e1s Maduro ultimately led to regime change as opposed to the use of U.S. warships.<\/p>\n

While Hegseth claims time is on the U.S. military\u2019s side, Kavanagh disagrees.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe costs for the United States and its allies (and the global economy) are higher than they are for Iran, and Iran\u2019s stakes are much greater,\u201d Kavanagh said in a message. \u201cThe blockade may put pressure on Iran over time, but it plays into Iran\u2019s hands\u2014extending the war and allowing the regime to survive. Coercion will not end the war or reopen the strait. The only exit strategy is through political compromise.\u201d\n\n<\/svg><\/p>\n<\/div>\n