Iran

'Shoot and Kill'

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Christian Britschgi | 4.24.2026 9:30 AM

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(WILL OLIVER/UPI/Newscom)

Shoot and Kill. The U.S.-Iran conflict is evolving from a hot war of dueling air strikes to a nautical stalemate with lots of piracy and saber (cutlass?) rattling.

The two-week ceasefire between the two countries that was supposed to expire Wednesday has since morphed into an indefinite pause in direct hostilities. Neither side is actively bombing the other at the moment. But face-to-face negotiations have not restarted either.

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In lieu of directly shooting at each other, the U.S. and Iran have taken to harassing shipping in the region. On Thursday, the U.S. Department of War posted footage of Marines boarding a tanker in the Indian Ocean, claiming it was shipping Iranian oil.

Overnight, U.S. forces carried out a maritime interdiction and right-of-visit boarding of the sanctioned stateless vessel M/T Majestic X transporting oil from Iran, in the Indian Ocean within the INDOPACOM area of responsibility.

We will continue global maritime enforcement to… pic.twitter.com/SWF6Jt9Ci4

— Department of War 🇺🇸 (@DeptofWar) April 23, 2026

U.S. Central Command claims to have redirected 33 ships during its blockade of Iranian coastal waters.

Iran also released footage on Thursday showing a swarm of small boats seizing two tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran's use of a swarm of small, fast boats to seize two container ships near the Strait of Hormuz could undermine suggestions that US forces have disabled its naval threat and reveals the challenges facing reopening the oil export route https://t.co/uqyZNLjzU4 pic.twitter.com/CjD9x4dhmi

— Reuters (@Reuters) April 23, 2026

Iran also reportedly attacked a third ship but did not capture it.

In response, President Donald Trump said on Truth Social that he'd ordered the U.S. Navy "to shoot and kill any boat, small boats" because they may be laying mines in the strait. The president told........

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