Donald Trump: I ordered the Navy to destroy any vessel laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz

In a caller station connected Truth Social, Donald Trump stated that helium has ordered the U.S. Navy to onslaught immoderate vas (presumably Iranian) that lays mines successful the waters of the Strait of Hormuz.

Without explicitly naming Iran, the U.S. president repeated that the United States has sunk 159 of Tehran’s warships and added that helium has instructed American minesweepers to intensify their efforts to wide the Strait.

Tehran collects archetypal toll revenues from the Strait of Hormuz

Earlier, Iran announced that it had received its archetypal revenues from imposing tolls connected the strategically captious Strait of Hormuz, arsenic the U.S. naval blockade is disrupting—but not halting—the country’s lipid flows.

According to Iranian parliament vice president Hamidreza Haji Babaei, “the archetypal toll revenues from the Strait of Hormuz person been deposited into the Central Bank’s account,” arsenic reported by the Tasnim agency. No further details were provided astir the magnitude oregon however the measurement is being implemented.

Meanwhile, Alireza Salimi, a subordinate of the Iranian Parliament’s presidium, said the toll levels are determined by the benignant and measurement of cargo, arsenic good arsenic the level of hazard progressive successful its transport.

At the aforesaid time, the U.S. naval blockade imposed connected Iranian ports has caused superior disruptions to the country’s lipid activity, though it has not wholly stopped it. According to maritime analytics steadfast Kpler, loading infrastructure remains operational and exports continue, chiefly toward China.

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced that astir 30 ships were forced to instrumentality to larboard oregon alteration people arsenic portion of the blockade, astir of them tankers. Meanwhile, U.S. forces seized an Iranian-flagged vas successful the Gulf of Oman and boarded different sanctioned vessel successful the Indian Ocean.

Nearly 985,000 barrels of Iranian lipid exported regular to China

However, Kpler information shows that tankers stay successful Iran’s loading zones, portion crude lipid flows to China reached astir 985,000 barrels per time successful the archetypal fractional of April and person not been interrupted since.

Particularly important is the export terminal astatine Jask, which allows bypassing the Strait of Hormuz. There, stockpiles person reached a grounds precocious of 5.8 cardinal barrels, portion tankers tin caput toward the Gulf of Oman without passing done the Strait.

“The blockade has disrupted lipid activity, but it has not destroyed it,” Kpler notes, summarizing the existent concern successful the region.