US President Donald Trump on 23 April said he had ordered the US Navy to “shoot and destroy” any boat laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz, adding that minesweepers were working “triple time”.
In a subsequent social media post, Trump also said Iran is trying to elect a leader and said the Strait of Hormuz is under US control, no vessel moves without US Navy approval and the waterway is “tightly closed”.
Late in the evening of 21 April, the US president announced a day before the ceasefire with Iran was due to expire that the truce would be extended.
As Trump noted, he decided to extend the truce at the request of authorities in Pakistan, the mediator in the US-Iran talks. Trump did not name a new deadline, noting that the US will wait until Iranian authorities formulate a “unified” negotiating position. According to Trump, there is now a split in Iran’s leadership.
Iran’s blocking of the Strait of Hormuz, an important waterway through which a fifth of the world’s oil trade normally passes, has driven up energy prices and undermined confidence in maritime transport.