Trump orders US Navy to target Iran boats as Tehran denies internal rift
Trump says he has ordered the US Navy to shoot and destroy Iranian boats laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz, as Tehran denies internal rifts.
US President Donald Trump said he had ordered the US Navy to shoot and destroy any Iranian vessel laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz, a move that could threaten the fragile ceasefire between the two countries.
The US President also said on Truth Social on Thursday (April 23) that the military would intensify efforts to remove explosive devices from the strategic waterway.
“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. There is to be no hesitation,” he said.
“Additionally, our mine ‘sweepers’ are clearing the Strait right now. I am hereby ordering that activity to continue, but at a tripled-up level!”
Iranian officials have repeatedly vowed that their country will defend itself and respond to any US attack.
Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz in response to attacks launched by US and Israeli forces, and has since said it has rights over the waterway, which links the Persian Gulf with the Indian Ocean and partly runs through Iranian waters.
The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has sent oil prices sharply higher, adding political pressure on Trump in the United States as petrol prices rose above US$4 per gallon, or 3.8 litres, from US$3 before the conflict.
Although Iran has halted almost all shipping through the waterway, Trump said on Thursday that the United States was in “complete control” of the Strait of Hormuz, adding that the route was “very tightly blockaded”.
“Iran is having a very hard time figuring out who their leader is! They just don’t know!” Trump posted on Truth Social. “The infighting is between the ‘Hardliners,’ who have been losing BADLY on the battlefield, and the ‘Moderates,’ who are not very moderate at all (but gaining respect!), is CRAZY!”
Iran rejects Trump’s claim of divisions in Tehran
Several Iranian officials insisted that their country remained united, rejecting Trump’s claim that there were divisions in Tehran.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf all issued statements rejecting Trump’s remarks.
Pezeshkian and Ghalibaf issued a joint statement with Iran’s Supreme National Security Council in a post on X, saying:
“In Iran there are no ‘hardliners’ or ‘moderates’. We are all Iranians and revolutionaries. With ironclad unity of nation and state and obedience to the Supreme Leader, we will make the aggressor regret.”
Mohammad Reza Aref, Iran’s First Vice President, also shared the statement and added a message in English.
“Iran is not a land of rifts, but a stronghold of unity,” Aref said. “Our political diversity is our democracy, yet in times of peril, we are a ‘Single Hand’ under one flag. To protect our soil and dignity, we transcend all labels. We are one soul, one nation.”
On Thursday, Araghchi also rejected allegations that Iran’s military was at odds with its political leadership.
“The failure of Israel’s terrorist killings is reflected in how Iran’s state institutions continue to act with unity, purpose and discipline,” Araghchi posted on X. “The battlefield and diplomacy are fully coordinated fronts in the same war. Iranians are all united, more than ever before.”
Throughout the past week, Trump and his aides have repeated daily claims that there is a major rift within Iran’s leadership. Trump’s reference to internal divisions may be used as a justification for extending the ceasefire, while also blaming Iran for the diplomatic deadlock.
However, in recent days, Tehran has stressed that talks originally scheduled to take place in Pakistan did not go ahead because of the US blockade of Iranian ports.
