Hormuz deadlock intensifies after Trump’s order

TEHRAN

In this picture obtained from Iran's ISNA news agency on April 24, 2026, Iranians are seen at Suru Beach in Bandar Abbas along the Strait of Hormuz. (Photo by RAZIEH POUDAT / ISNA / AFP)

Tensions in the standoff between the U.S. and Iran over the Strait of Hormuz intensified on April 24 after U.S. President Donald Trump said he ordered the U.S. military to “shoot and kill” Iranian small boats in the strait, while Iran pushed back on Trump's claim there was a leadership rift in the Islamic Republic.

“In Iran there are no ‘hard-liners’ or ‘moderates’. We are all Iranians and revolutionaries,” Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian and Speaker of Parliament Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf wrote in almost identical social media statements.

The standoff between the U.S. and Iran has effectively choked off nearly all exports through the Strait of Hormuz, where 20% of the world’s traded oil passes in peacetime, with no end in sight.

Trump has ordered the U.S. military to “shoot and kill” small Iranian boats that deploy mines in the Strait of Hormuz, announcing the move on April 23 a day after Iran again displayed its ability to thwart traffic through the channel.

“I have ordered the United States Navy to shoot and kill any boat, small boats though they may be ... putting mines in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump posted, adding that U.S. minesweepers "are clearing the Strait right now.”

“I am hereby ordering that activity to continue, but at a tripled up level!” he added.

Meanwhile, it was still unclear when, or if, the U.S. and Iran would meet again in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, where mediators are trying to bring the countries together to reach a diplomatic deal ending that conflict.

Negotiations initially planned this week have not happened. Iran insists it will not attend until the U.S. ends its blockade on Iranian ports and ships. The White House insists it will not take part until Tehran opens the strait to international traffic.

Meanwhile, CNN on April 23 reported that the U.S. military is preparing new operational plans aimed at countering Iran’s capabilities in the Strait of Hormuz.

CNN reported that the Pentagon is assessing multiple strike scenarios, including potential attacks on Iranian targets in and around the Strait of Hormuz, the southern Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.

These plans reportedly focus on neutralizing assets that enable Iran to exert control over the strategic waterway, such as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ fast attack craft and vessels used for deploying naval mines.

[HH] Gulf states in limbo as crisis drags on

After weathering unprecedented attacks from Iran, the wealthy Gulf states are now stuck between war and peace.

Even as a shaky ceasefire holds, the threat of renewed strikes looms over the region's economy beyond oil, threatening diversification ambitions in the Gulf, long touted as a safe haven for visitors and business.

It is unclear whether stalled talks, so far centred around the Strait of Hormuz and uranium enrichment, will produce a deal addressing the Gulf's main concerns: stripping Iran of its control over the key waterway and keeping its missiles and proxies in check.

The longer the Gulf's fate remains uncertain, the longer economic recovery will take, and analysts warn that the traditional US allies will struggle to influence Washington's decisions when it comes to war and peace.