The US military seized another tanker linked to Iranian oil smuggling on Thursday, intensifying a high-stakes maritime confrontation. The action occurred just one day after Iran’s Revolutionary Guards captured two vessels in the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
The Department of Defense released footage showing American forces boarding the Majestic X, a Guyana-flagged tanker intercepted in the Indian Ocean. Tracking data placed the ship between Sri Lanka and Indonesia—the same region where US forces recently seized the tanker Tifani. The Majestic X, formerly named Phonix, was sanctioned in 2024 for transporting prohibited Iranian crude towards Zhoushan, China.
“We will continue global maritime enforcement to disrupt illicit networks and interdict vessels providing material support to Iran, wherever they operate,” a Pentagon statement said.
WATCH VIDEO
Regional instability and global impact
This seizure follows a series of Iranian attacks on three cargo ships, resulting in two captures within a waterway that handles 20% of global oil trade. While President Trump recently extended a ceasefire, the US continues its blockade of Iranian ports, effectively halting exports through the strait.
The ongoing friction has triggered severe global economic ripples:
Energy prices
Brent crude has surged past $100 per barrel, a 35% jump from pre-conflict levels.
European Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen warned that the disruption is costing Europe roughly $600 million daily.
Iran has yet to issue an official response to the latest seizure as the blockade continues with no clear resolution in sight.
Trump orders US Navy to shoot boats placing mines in Hormuz
President Trump has issued a direct order to the US Navy to “shoot and kill” any vessel caught planting mines in the Strait of Hormuz, significantly raising the stakes in a tense maritime standoff with Iran.
“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,” Trump said in a social media post on Thursday. “There is to be no hesitation.”
The directive comes during an indefinite ceasefire between the two nations, which has paradoxically left the world’s most critical energy corridor largely paralysed. While the US maintains a strict naval blockade on all Iranian ports, Tehran has countered by choking off international transit through the waterway.
In addition to the engagement order, President Trump vowed to ramp up efforts to reopen the passage. “Efforts to clear the strait of mines laid by Iran during the conflict would intensify,” the President stated, emphasising the need to restore the flow of global energy supplies.
US Central Command recently deployed warships to initiate mine-sweeping operations, though Iranian officials have denied laying the explosives, calling the American military presence a “provocative” escalation.
The current standoff has effectively created a “shuttered” strait, with both sides utilising blockade tactics to gain leverage in ongoing peace negotiations. Trump’s latest order signals a pivot toward more aggressive enforcement of maritime security, even as the fragile ceasefire holds on other fronts.
“Additionally, our mine ‘sweepers’ are clearing the Strait right now,” he wrote. “I am hereby ordering that activity to continue, but at a tripled up level! Thank you for your attention to this matter.”
