Live updates: Trump orders U.S. military to 'shoot and kill' Iranian boats mining Strait of Hormuz
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The intensifying maritime standoff between the two countries leaves the crucial global trade route at an effective standstill.
What to know
- STANDOFF AT SEA: The U.S. military says it has boarded another tanker involved in smuggling Iranian oil, as the intensifying maritime standoff between the two countries leaves the key Strait of Hormuz trade route effectively shut. Tehran attacked three commercial ships and seized two of them yesterday, and says the U.S. naval blockade is a “main obstacle” to new peace talks.
- MINE CLEARING HORMUZ: President Donald Trump ordered the U.S. military to "shoot and kill" any Iranian boats laying mines in the strait, adding that the U.S. would intensify its efforts to clear mines that have helped choke off global shipping.
- TRUMP SAYS 'NO TIME PRESSURE': Despite the mounting global economic consequences, Trump said there is “no time pressure” in talks with Iran and “no time frame” on ending the war after he extended the ceasefire.
- ISRAEL-LEBANON TALKS: Lebanon will seek an extension of the ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah in rare direct talks between the two countries today in Washington. Outrage over continued Israeli strikes will cloud the meeting, after the killing of a journalist yesterday.
- DEATH TOLL: Iran’s forensics chief said nearly 3,400 people had been killed in the country since U.S.-Israeli strikes began Feb. 28. More than 2,200 people have been killed in Lebanon, 32 have been killed in Gulf states, and 23 have died in Israel. Thirteen U.S. service members have been killed, and two more died of noncombat causes.
- INSIGHTS AND ANALYSIS: Get exclusive analysis and insight into the Middle East conflict by becoming an NBC News subscriber.
Trump says he's ordered Navy to 'shoot and kill' Iranian boats laying mines in Strait of Hormuz
Trump says he has ordered the U.S. Navy to "shoot and kill any boat" laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz, and ordered stepped up efforts to clear existing mines.
“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," the president said in a post on Truth Social.
"Additionally, our mine “sweepers” are clearing the Strait right now. I am hereby ordering that activity to continue, but at a tripled up level!" Trump said.
The comments come amid growing concerns that the threat of mines in the key waterway, as well as the standoff between the two navies, will leave the crucial trade route effectively blocked for some time.
Gas prices in the U.S. climb for the first time in weeks
Gas prices in the U.S. have climbed for the first time in week, to $4.03 a gallon.
After reaching $4.17 a gallon earlier this month prices had steadily dropped for two weeks. But they rose slightly today, according to data from motor club AAA.
The price of gas has risen more than 30% since the start of the war.
In some states, including California, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon and Washington, prices are over or near $5 per gallon, the highest nationally.
Gas prices in Brentwood, Tenn., on Sunday. Camden Hall / NurPhoto via Getty Images
U.S. military boards another sanctioned oil tanker linked with Iran
The U.S. military says it has boarded another sanctioned tanker involved in smuggling Iranian oil, as the maritime standoff between the two countries intensifies.
U.S. forces carried out “a maritime interdiction and right-of-visit boarding” of a sanctioned vessel transporting oil from Iran in the Indian Ocean, the Defense Department said this morning in a post on X.
Images released by the Department of Defense appear to show U.S. troops boarding the sanctioned stateless vessel M/T Majestic X. via Department of Defense
It said the operation took place overnight and involved stateless vessel M/T Majestic X. It released footage showing the boarding.
“We will continue global maritime enforcement to disrupt illicit networks and interdict vessels providing material support to Iran, wherever they operate,” it said.
It comes after the Defense Department said Tuesday it boarded another stateless vessel in the Indo-Pacific, alleging that it was providing material support to Iran. U.S. forces also seized an Iranian ship over the weekend.
Crew of seized ship are safe after Iranian attack, management company says
The crew of one of the ships attacked and seized in the Strait of Hormuz by Iran yesterday are all "safe and accounted for," the ship's management company has said.
The Epaminondas was boarded by Iranian forces, Technomar Shipping Inc. confirmed to NBC News in a statement this morning.
"The vessel was transiting the Strait of Hormuz when it was approached and fired upon by a manned gunboat approximately 20 nautical miles off the coast of Oman" yesterday, it said.
"All crew are safe and accounted for, and there were no reports of injuries or pollution."
The statement added that "Technomar remains in close communication with the relevant authorities in the region."
Iran’s former crown prince Reza Pahlavi splattered with red liquid in Berlin
Iran’s former Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi was splattered with red liquid this morning as he left a building in Berlin.
Pahlavi had just departed a news briefing, during which he criticized the ceasefire between the Unites States and Iran, when the incident occurred outside Germany’s federal press conference building.
He then waved to his supporters and got into a car that drove away. The alleged perpetrator was immediately detained by police.
Reza Pahlavi after being pelted from behind with a red liquid in Berlin this morning. Halil Sagirkaya / Anadolu via Getty Images
A man is taken away by police following the incident. Michael Kappeler / DPA via Getty Images
Pahlavi, who was not invited to meet with any government representatives during his visit to Berlin, argued that the ceasefire agreement assumes the Iranian government’s behavior will change and “you’re going to deal with people who all of a sudden have become pragmatists.”
“I don’t see that happening,” he said. “I’m not saying that diplomacy should not be given a chance, but I think diplomacy has been given enough chance.”
Pahlavi, 65, is jockeying for a return to power should the Shiite theocracy fall and has supported the U.S.-Israeli military intervention in the Middle East.
Pahlavi is the son of Iran’s former shah, who was so widely hated that millions took to the streets in 1979 to force him from power. Nevertheless, Pahlavi is trying to position himself as a player in his country’s future, though it’s unclear how much support he has in Iran after he has been abroad for nearly 50 years.
Pahlavi in Berlin called on Europeans to do more to support Iranian people fighting for democracy. He claimed 19 political prisoners were executed by Iranian authorities in the past two weeks and another 20 people have been sentenced to death.
“Will the free world do something, or watch the slaughter in silence?” Pahlavi said.
Iran's foreign minister says 'aggressors' are responsible for consequences of war
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said it is the "aggressors" in the war that are responsible for its consequences.
Araghchi made the comments during a meeting with South Korea's special envoy Chung Byung-ha, in Tehran, the semi-official Iranian ISNA news agency reported.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. Shadati / Xinhua News Agency via Getty Images file
Araghchi further said that Iran, as a coastal state of the Strait of Hormuz, had adopted measures in accordance with international law to safeguard the country's security and national interests against aggression and threats from the U.S. and Israel.
He called for relations between Iran and South Korea to be strengthened.
Strait of Hormuz traffic at a standstill after Iranian attacks
In the wake of the Iranian attack on three ships in the Strait of Hormuz yesterday, MarineTraffic tracking data shows an almost total standstill of vessels transiting through the waterway.
Just one ship, the Greek owned bulk carrier LB Energy, has made the journey in the last 12 hours.
The LB Energy left Iran’s Bandar Imam Khomeini port on April 19 and had been in the Persian Gulf until yesterday, when it traveled through the Iranian-approved route between Hormuz and Larak islands at around midnight this morning, with a final destination for Brazil.
Tankers anchored in the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday. Asghar Besharati / AP
Ocean Jewel, a tanker which had been in the Persian Gulf since April 19, appeared to attempt a crossing yesterday morning, approaching the strait before turning around at 3 a.m. ET and travelling east, away from the strait.
Epaminondas, one of the cargo ships seized by the Revolutionary Guard yesterday in the eastern part of the Strait of Hormuz, was moved north between the Iranian islands of Hormuz and Larak yesterday evening, before it stopped transmitting at 2:46 p.m. ET. The other ship taken by Iran, the Francesca, stopped transmitting in the same area where it was seized.
Iran official says first revenue received from Strait of Hormuz tolls
Tehran has received the first revenue from tolls it imposed on the Strait of Hormuz during its war with the U.S. and Israel, a senior Iranian parliament official has said.
Hamidreza Hajibabaei, Iran's deputy speaker of parliament, said the "first revenue from tolls of the Strait of Hormuz has been deposited into the central bank account," according to semiofficial news agency Tasnim.
The outlet did not expand further on the statement.
It comes after Iran began charging some ships millions of dollars to transit the strait of Hormuz, through which some 20% of the world's oil and gas passes.
Photos: Relatives mourn Lebanese journalist killed in Israeli strike
Relatives of Amal Khalil, a Lebanese journalist who officials and her employer say was killed by an Israeli airstrike yesterday, gathered in Baysariyeh in southern Lebanon this morning to mourn her loss ahead of funeral processions.
Khalil was killed by a strike on a house in southern Lebanon where she had taken cover while reporting on the Israel-Hezbollah war. Her body was only retrieved from the rubble hours later, rescue workers said.
Israel’s military acknowledged the strike and said it was aware of reports that two journalists had been injured but said that it does not deliberately target journalists.
Mourners hang a giant poster of Amal Khalil at her home in the village of Baysariyeh, southern Lebanon, today. Mohammed Zaatari / AP
Zainab, the sister of Amal Khalil, hugs her helmet as she mourns over her coffin today. Mohammed Zaatari / AP
Mourners gather around the coffin of Amal Khalil ahead of her funeral procession today. Mohammed Zaatari / AP
Israeli troops burning homes in southern Lebanon, state news agency reports
Israeli troops have been burning homes in southern Lebanon, while also continuing to destroy neighborhoods and infrastructure in the area amid Lebanon's truce with Israel, Lebanese media reported.
Lebanon's National News Agency reported that Israeli troops had been burning houses in Mais Al-Jabal in Marjayoun in Lebanon's south since the early hours of this morning.
It separately reported a day before that Israeli bulldozers had been destroying neighborhoods, roads and infrastructure in the town of Khiam, which has been a battleground in fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, according to The Associated Press.
Bombing operations were also reported in Bint Jbeil, a key Hezbollah stronghold that Israeli forces have sought to takeover, as well as in other areas in the south.
The Israeli military said in a statement to the Associated Press that the target of the demolition work is Hezbollah, not Lebanon or its civilians, and that it “operates in accordance with international law and does not destroy civilian property unless required by imperative military necessity.”
Warning of higher condom prices goes viral in China, stokes stockpiling talk
A warning of higher condom prices by the world’s top maker has gone viral in China with the hashtag “condom prices rising” garnering more than 60 million views by this morning on Chinese social media and stoking talk of stockpiling.
The Iran crisis has impacted facets of everyday life for people around the world and many Chinese took to social media platform Weibo — China’s equivalent of X — to bemoan the fact it was now even invading the bedroom.
The wave of online comments was sparked by the boss of condom maker Karex, Goh Miah Kiat, who said the Malaysian company planned to raise prices by 20%-30% and possibly more if supply chain disruptions due to the Iran war drag on.
Many online comments said higher prices would not deter them from buying condoms to protect against pregnancy. Others urged buyers to stockpile.
“A few dozen yuan for a condom is a hundred times more cost-effective than raising a child at a million yuan,” said one user.
“From now on, not only will we have to be frugal, but we’ll also have to stock up on condoms in advance,” said another.
The online conversations erupted in the past 24 hours and come as Chinese authorities are trying a range of policy measures to boost the country’s flagging birth rate, which has been falling for decades, to offset an ageing population. Last year, births hit a record low.
Karex produces over 5 billion condoms annually and is a supplier to leading brands such as Durex and Trojan.
A price rise for condoms would add to the already increasing cost of family planning in China.
At the start of the year, China removed a three-decade-old tax exemption on contraceptive drugs and devices. Condoms and contraceptive pills are subject to a value-added tax of 13%, the standard rate for most consumer goods.
Condom companies Reckitt, LifeStyles, Ansell, and Renfu, which sell in China, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Pakistan interior minister meets U.S. official with talks in limbo
Pakistan Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said in a statement this morning he hoped for “positive progress” from Iran after a meeting with U.S. Chargé d’Affaires Natalie Baker.
The meeting in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad included discussion of diplomatic efforts related to a second round of U.S.-Iran ceasefire talks, which was delayed after Tehran did not confirm when it would send its delegation.
Naqvi said Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir were making efforts “at every level” to support a peaceful settlement and hoped all sides would give diplomacy a chance.
Naqvi praised Trump for extending the ceasefire, calling it a welcome step toward de-escalation.
Baker appreciated Pakistan’s “constructive role” in promoting peace, the statement said.
U.S. Central Command says it has turned around 31 ships in Iran blockade
U.S. Central Command said last night that the number of ships it has turned around in its naval blockade of Iranian ports has risen to 31.
Most of those vessels have been oil tankers, CENTCOM said on X.
The U.S. has vowed that no ships would be allowed into or out of Iran’s ports as part of the naval blockade, intended to put pressure on Tehran.
Iranian officials have said that they consider the blockade to be a violation of the cease-fire with the U.S. and today attacked three ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
An inside look at war-torn Lebanon
Nearly two months after the start of the war, civilians in southern Lebanon are grappling with their new reality.
NBC News explores a town that’s considered a Hezbollah stronghold after a series of deadly Israeli strikes.
