The order to “shoot and kill” small Iranian boats came as President Donald Trump ratcheted up his stance toward mines in the Strait of Hormuz, where shipping has faced disruption amid the wider conflict involving Iran, Israel and the United States. In a Thursday post, Trump directed the U.S. Navy to act against boats “putting mines in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz,” and he said U.S. minesweepers were clearing the channel.

Trump’s announcement also included a separate diplomatic move aimed at reducing fighting in the Middle East. He said a ceasefire in Lebanon would be extended by three weeks, describing the decision as stemming from a meeting at the White House between the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors to the United States.

The escalation over the strait unfolded alongside a U.S. seizure at sea and continued uncertainty about U.S.-Iran diplomacy. The U.S. Defense Department released video footage of U.S. forces on deck of the oil tanker Majestic X, which it said was seized in the Indian Ocean. Ship-tracking data described in the report placed Majestic X in the Indian Ocean between Sri Lanka and Indonesia, near the location of another tanker that had been seized earlier by American forces.

Trump’s posture toward the strait also appeared in the context of Iran’s past actions toward shipping in the waterway. The report said the footage emerged a day after Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard attacked three cargo ships in the strait, capturing two of them, an assault that raised new concerns about the safety of shipping through the channel. The report also cited the head of Iran’s judiciary, Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei, as saying three “violating ships” were “subject to enforcement,” and Mohseni Ejei wrote that the “show of strength” by Iran’s armed forces was a source of pride while asserting the Americans “lack the courage” to approach the strait.

Uncertainty also surrounds the shipping documentation tied to the tanker seizure. The report said Majestic X had previously been named Phonix and had been sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2024 for smuggling Iranian crude oil in contravention of U.S. sanctions. It added that Guyana said the tanker was flying a Guyanese flag without being registered there, and it quoted Guyana’s Maritime Administration Department as saying there was no record of the vessel or name in Guyana’s registry and that the ship was “FRAUDULENTLY flying the Guyana flag.”

Beyond the immediate maritime incidents, the report said it remained unclear when, or whether, the U.S. and Iran would meet again in Islamabad, where mediators have tried to bring the countries together. Negotiations planned for this week did not happen, the report said, with Iran insisting it would not attend unless the U.S. ends its blockade on Iranian ports and ships. The White House, the report said, insisted it would not take part until Tehran opens the strait to international traffic.

Trump’s comments on Iran’s internal leadership echoed the report’s portrayal of continuing gaps in negotiations, even as he said he was seeking time for a diplomatic proposal. The report said Trump extended a ceasefire to give Iranian leadership more time to produce a “unified proposal” on ending the war while maintaining an American blockade of Iranian ports. In a Thursday post, Trump claimed the absence of a clear leadership lineup—between moderates and hard-liners—was “confounding Iran,” adding that “They just don’t know!” The report also said Iran’s president and parliament speaker posted statements on social media saying the country had no hard-liners or moderates.

While Trump urged further diplomacy from Washington’s standpoint, Pope Leo XIV urged both sides to return to talks. The report said the pope, returning home from a trip to Africa, urged the U.S. and Iran to return to talks to end the war.

The report described the Lebanon ceasefire extension as part of broader efforts to manage multiple fronts at once, including a new round of Israel-Hezbollah diplomacy in Washington. It said Trump told reporters the second round of talks between Israel and Lebanon in Washington “went very well,” which resulted in the ceasefire extension for Israel and the Hezbollah militant group. The report said the ceasefire, which first took effect for a 10-day period starting Friday, was underscored by continued strikes and reciprocal accusations by Israel and Hezbollah, with Lebanon’s public health ministry citing an Israeli airstrike that killed three people in the area of Nabatiya.

As the conflict continued, the report said threats to shipping through the region persisted. It stated that since the Feb. 28 start of the war between Iran, Israel and the United States, over 30 ships had come under attack in the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman. It added that fear of attacks and other concerns—including rising insurance premiums—had stopped traffic from moving through the strait, where Iran’s ability to restrict traffic has been described as a strategic advantage.

Maritime industry officials warned that assurances of safe transit and stable ceasefire conditions are essential for a return to normal shipping levels. The report said Jakob Larsen, head of maritime security for BIMCO—the largest international association representing shipowners—wrote in a note Thursday that most shipping companies need a stable ceasefire and assurances from both sides that the strait is safe for transit. It added that Larsen wrote that the threat of mines was a “particular concern” if traffic might return one day to normal levels.

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