US President Donald Trump says he has ordered the US navy to “shoot and kill” boats placing mines in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz.
In a post on Truth Social, the US president said, “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”.
He insisted that “there is to be no hesitation”. He added that the US mine “sweepers” were clearing the strait “right now”. “I am hereby ordering that activity to continue, but at a tripled up level,” the US president said.
Earlier, Iran has banked the first proceeds from the tolls it is exacting on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a senior official said Thursday, as disruption triggered by the US-Israeli war against the Islamic republic continued to batter the world economy.
With planned peace talks hanging in the balance, more fuel-hungry airlines cancelled flights, oil prices opened higher and the keenly-watched S&P Global PMI index showed eurozone business activity shrinking for the first time in 16 months.
Iran vowed it will keep the strait closed to all but a trickle of approved vessels for as long as the United States blockades its ports, brushing off demands from President Donald Trump that it buckle to US threats and both reopen Hormuz and surrender its enriched uranium.
While strikes around the region have mostly ceased since the two-week-old truce began, there has been no letup in the stand-off over the crucial trade route, with both sides seeking economic leverage -- only for Trump to announce an indefinite ceasefire to create space for more Pakistani-mediated talks.
"A complete ceasefire only has meaning if it is not violated through a naval blockade," said Iran's parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who led Tehran's delegation at a first round of talks. "Reopening the Strait of Hormuz is not possible amid a blatant violation of the ceasefire."
Ghalibaf's deputy, Hamidrez Hajibabei said Iran has received its first revenue from tolls it is imposing on ships seeking to cross Hormuz, a route that in peacetime accounts for a fifth of the world's oil and gas flows, and other vital commodities.
- 'Escalate' -
Analysts said Tehran, in particular its hardline leaders associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), believes that Iran's blockade gives it sufficient economic leverage to force Washington to back down on its main demands in eventual peace talks.
And some, such as Danny Citrinowicz of the Tel-Aviv Institute for National Security Studies, criticised Israel and the US for misreading the Iranian government's position.
"Tehran has consistently demonstrated a willingness to absorb economic pain while holding firm on what it views as core national interests. There is little reason to believe this time will be different," he said, in a social media post.
"Rather than moving toward concession, Iran is positioning itself to escalate."
A brief from the Soufan Center think tank said Iran's hardliners "argue that a prolonged elevation of global energy prices and mounting global shortages of some goods will increasingly pressure Trump to accede to Iran's positions, end the war, and eventually withdraw US forces from the region.
"Trump and his team calculate the opposite -- that the US blockade of Iran's seaborne trade, which carries all of its oil exports, will quickly cripple Iran's economy and force Iran to accept US demands."
On Wednesday, Trump told the New York Post that talks could resume in Pakistan within two to three days, even though Iran has not confirmed participation and Vice President JD Vance put his travel to Islamabad on hold on Tuesday.
In the Pakistani capital Islamabad blanket security remained in place for the fourth straight day in anticipation of possible talks, with transport disrupted and the city's government quarter and adjacent commercial centre all but shut down.
Schools in a so-called "Red Zone" remained shut and universities have shifted to distance learning, ahead of the planned arrivals of delegations from Washington and Tehran.
Oil prices rise
Asian stocks fell and oil prices rose Thursday as the United States and Iran appeared no closer to holding fresh peace talks and Tehran continued to refuse to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Hopes that the two would meet for a second round of negotiations in Pakistan have dissipated, with the Islamic republic targeting three container ships in the waterway and citing Washington's blockade as its reason for keeping it closed.
Investors have spent most of the week upbeat that a breakthrough to end the seven-week conflict will be made soon, while healthy earnings and a resumption of the AI trade has also provided support.
Crude prices jumped as much as four percent in early Asian business after global security monitors and Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Iranian forces had seized two ships and fired on a third in the Strait of Hormuz.
Tehran has said vessels must seek permission to leave or enter the Gulf through the waterway, which in peacetime accounts for around a fifth of the world's oil and gas exports along with other vital commodities.
However, the White House said Donald Trump did not consider the move to be a ceasefire violation because the vessels are not American or Israeli.
Meanwhile, Iran's parliament speaker said the Islamic republic would not reopen the Strait as long as the US naval blockade remained, calling it a "blatant violation" of the two countries' ceasefire.
"A complete ceasefire only has meaning if it is not violated through a naval blockade... Reopening the Strait of Hormuz is not possible amid a blatant violation of the ceasefire," speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on X.
Still, Trump's Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said he "has not set a firm deadline to receive an Iranian proposal" for talks. "Ultimately, the timeline will be dictated by the commander in chief," she told journalists.
Oil prices remained elevated, with Brent holding above $100 following a surge Wednesday, though they pared Thursday's initial gains.
Most equities fell, though, with Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Singapore and Wellington all down. But Seoul rallied more than one percent to a new record thanks to a fresh rally in the tech sector that has been the backbone of a surge in the Kospi index this year. Taipei, Manila and Jakarta were also up.
Iran says won't reopen Hormuz
Iran vowed not to reopen the Strait of Hormuz so long as a US naval blockade remained in place despite a ceasefire extension, as it announced the seizure of two ships trying to cross the strategic waterway.
As the clock ticked for a return to the war that has engulfed the region, US President Donald Trump had said Tuesday he would maintain the truce to allow more time for Pakistani-brokered peace talks.
Iran said it welcomed the efforts by Pakistan but made no other comment on Trump's announcement.
"A complete ceasefire only has meaning if it is not violated through a naval blockade," said Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who led Tehran's delegation in the first round of talks in Islamabad. "Reopening the Strait of Hormuz is not possible amid a blatant violation of the ceasefire."
Trump had said he wanted to give time for Iran's "fractured" leadership to come up with a proposal, in what many observers saw as a face-saving way to avoid renewed war.
Trump told the New York Post that talks could resume in Pakistan within two to three days, even though Iran has not confirmed participation and Vice President JD Vance put on hold his travel to Islamabad on Tuesday.
Trump also claimed that Iran at his request had halted alleged plans to execute eight women arrested over massive anti-government protests in the weeks before the attack. But Iran's judiciary described his remarks as "false news", saying the women had never faced the death penalty.
- More Lebanon violence before talks -
After the ceasefire with Iran, the United States helped broker a truce between Israel and Lebanon including Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Shia Muslim movement that had fired rockets into Israel in revenge for the attacks on its patron.
Despite the declared truce, Israeli strikes killed five more people on Wednesday, Lebanese media said.
Amal Khalil, a journalist for the newspaper Al-Akhbar, was killed and her fellow reporter Zeinab Faraj wounded in an Israeli strike near the border, the daily said.
French President Emmanuel Macron announced that a second French soldier, wounded in a weekend ambush against UN peacekeepers in Lebanon blamed on Hezbollah, had died.
A first soldier was shot dead in the Saturday ambush, for which Hezbollah has denied responsibility.
Israel and Lebanon, which have no diplomatic relations, will hold a second round of talks in Washington on Thursday. Lebanon will request a one-month extension of the ceasefire during the meeting, a Lebanese official told AFP.
Lebanon will also seek "an end of Israel's bombing and destruction in the areas where it is present and a commitment to the ceasefire," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity given the sensitive nature of the talks.
Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed more than 2,450 people since the start of the war, according to Lebanese authorities.
- US Central Command turns back 31 vessels -
US Central Command (CENTCOM) said late Wednesday that it had also "directed 31 vessels to turn around or return to port" as part of its own "blockade against Iran".
It said on X "the majority of vessels have complied with US directions" adding that "most vessels turned around have been oil tankers".
- Second French soldier dies -
French President Emmanuel Macron said that a second French soldier died from wounds suffered in a weekend ambush on UN peacekeepers in Lebanon blamed on Hezbollah, which has denied responsibility.
- No deadline for peace plan -
US President Donald Trump has not set a deadline by which Iran must submit a peace proposal, the White House said on Wednesday.
"The president has not set a firm deadline to receive an Iranian proposal, unlike some of the reporting I've seen today. Ultimately, the timeline will be dictated by the commander in chief," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told journalists.
Trump also does not consider Iran's seizure of two container ships to be a ceasefire violation because the vessels are not American or Israeli, the White House said.
- 'Serious disagreements' -
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Israel does not have any "serious disagreements" with Lebanon, calling Hezbollah "the obstacle to peace and normalisation."
A Hezbollah lawmaker, however, told AFP on Monday that the group might accept indirect talks mediated by the United States.
Despite the truce, Israel is continuing its strikes in Lebanon, and Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed at least 2,454 people since the start of the war, according to Lebanese authorities.
- Israel hits Gaza, killing five -
Three children were among the five Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes targeting a group of civilians near Al-Qassam mosque in Beit Lahia, in the north, Gaza's civil defense agency said Wednesday.
At least 786 Palestinians have been killed since the October 10 ceasefire with Israel, according to Gaza's health ministry, which is under Hamas authority and whose figures are considered reliable by the United Nations.
- Second French soldier dies -
French President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday that a second French soldier died "of the consequences of his wounds" suffered in a weekend ambush against UN peacekeepers in Lebanon blamed on Hezbollah, which has denied responsibility.
- Trump says halted executions -
Trump said Iran had halted alleged plans to execute eight women arrested over anti-government protests, after he urged Tehran to release them to help peace negotiations.
"I very much appreciate that Iran, and its leaders, respected my request... and terminated the planned execution," he said on his Truth Social platform.
Iran's judiciary called the claim "false news", saying the women had never faced the death penalty.
- War 'weakening' Europe -
The war is "starting to weaken Europe", said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
"The war in our region is likewise starting to weaken Europe, and if we do not address this situation with an approach that prioritises peace, the damage...will be far greater," Erdogan told his German counterpart, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, according to a statement from the Turkish leader's office.