US President Donald Trump has said in a new post that he has ordered the US Navy to open fire in Hormuz.
He wrote on Truth Social, “I have ordered the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any boat, no matter how small (there are 159 of them lying on the bottom of the ocean!), laying mines in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz. There should be no hesitation about this. Additionally, our minesweepers “Sweepers” are currently clearing the strait. I hereby order that this work be continued, but now three times faster! Thank you for your attention to this matter.
‘No deadline has been set to end the war in Iran’
Earlier, Donald Trump had said that there is no deadline for ending the war in Iran, and the standoff over the Strait of Hormuz is likely to continue indefinitely. The US President said it is not true that he wants to end the war before the US midterm elections in November, and insisted he is under no time pressure regarding a ceasefire with Iran. “People say I want to end it because of the midterm elections, but that’s not true,” Trump said.
How long will it take to evacuate Hormuz?
According to US media reports, a Pentagon assessment says it could take six months to completely remove mines laid by Iran from the Strait of Hormuz, which could keep oil prices high.
Iran has almost completely blocked the vital waterway since the war with the US and Israel began, sending oil and gas prices soaring and disrupting the global economy.
According to the Pentagon’s assessment, even if the war ends and the US Navy blockade of Iranian ports ends, it could still take several months to remove mines from this waterway.
This assessment also states that it is unlikely that such a campaign would begin before the end of the war.