21
Views

Tensions Remain High in Hormuz as Trump Says Navy Will “Shoot to Kill”

IRGC storming containership
Iranian forces boarding the MSC containership in a propaganda video (Tasnim)

Published Apr 23, 2026 3:55 PM by The Maritime Executive


Both sides continued to trade threats as Iran repeated its assertion that the Strait of Hormuz is closed. Trump, however, says the U.S. Navy is working to clear the vital waterway. It has become one of the key sticking points as both sides move further away from potential negotiations.

“I have ordered the United States Navy to shoot and kill any boat, small boats though they may be,” wrote Donald Trump on social media on Thursday, threatening the boats “putting mines in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz.” Trump has vacillated, saying that the Strait is open or that Iran does not want it closed because it is losing revenue, while vowing to continue the blockade until a peace deal is reached.

Further, Trump wrote, “Our mine ‘sweepers’ are clearing the Strait right now. I am hereby ordering that activity to continue, but at a tripled up level!” This came after a report in the Washington Post said the Pentagon's internal assessment is that it could take six months to complete minesweeping operations in the strait after hostilities have ceased.

Iranian officials continued to taunt Trump in their statements while also asserting that they control the Strait of Hormuz. The semi-official Tasnim News Agency quoted officials as saying Iran has not received its first payments for safe passage through the Strait. Iran's parliament speaker and negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said, "You did not achieve your goals through military aggression and you will not achieve them by bullying either.”

Iran has called the blockade a "flagrant breach of the ceasefire," demanding it be lifted before peace talks resume. In addition, it vowed retaliation as the U.S. has begun intercepting ships, including the containership that was disabled on Sunday and two tankers that were boarded in the Indian Ocean. CENTCOM reported that over 30 ships have been redirected during the blockade.

 

 

As part of its propaganda war and online taunts of Trump, the IRGC released a heavily staged video showing the seizure of one of the MSC containerships that took place on Wednesday in the Strait of Hormuz. It asserted the ships did not have approvals for the transit and had “tampered with navigation devices,” likely a reference to both ships attempting the crossing with the AIS transmissions turned off. It asserts that the ships both ignored repeated warnings not to enter the Strait.

The White House sought to distinguish between the attacks, saying they were piracy because neither ship was American or Israeli and, as such, not a violation of the ceasefire. Iran, however, continues to associate MSC with Israel and further uses that to justify the attacks.

Reports confirmed that both ships have now been taken toward the port of Bandar Abbas. Montenegro’s Minister of Maritime Affairs, Filip Radulovic, said they believed the ships were anchored approximately nine nautical miles from the Iranian coast.

Montenegro reported that the master and chief engineer on the MSC Francesca are its citizens, along with two other crewmembers, who it said were all reported to be safe. It said it was aware that MSC was in negotiations with the Iranian side. At the same time, the Philippines’ Department of Migrant Workers reported that there are a total of 15 Filipinos on the two ships, with 10 on the Epaminondas and five on the MSC Francesca. Officials in India said there is one Indian in the crew of the Epaminondas, while there are 21 of its citizens on the Euphoria, which was also shot at but not seized. 

Technomar Shipping, which manages the Epaminondas, said all 21 crewmembers were safe. It said the vessel sustained damage during the attack, which took place approximately 20 nautical miles northwest of Oman.

There were widespread denunciations of the attacks on the three containerships, with Panama's Foreign Ministry condemning the attacks, and specifically the seizure of MSC Francesca, which sails under the flag of Panama. The trade group BIMCO issued a statement urging all parties to the conflict to show restraint and help protect innocent seafarers.

“I cannot understand why companies would take risks and endanger seafarers’ lives,” said IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez in a statement that called the attacks on and seizures of commercial ships “unacceptable.“ He once again called for “these reckless actions to cease and for any ships and innocent seafarers to be released immediately.”