US boards ship carrying Iran oil as Trump threatens mine-laying vessels

The US says its forces have boarded a sanctioned ship carrying Iranian oil in the Indian Ocean in the country's latest naval move against Iran.

The US Department of Defence (DoD) said in a statement it had carried out a "maritime interdiction" - the interception or inspection of a vessel by a navy on ships suspected to be hostile or in violation of the law - on the M/T Majestic X.

The US has intercepted multiple ships after imposing a blockade on maritime traffic entering and leaving Iranian ports on 13 April.

The latest interception comes as President Donald Trump ordered the US Navy to "shoot and kill" any boat laying mines in the critical shipping channel the Strait of Hormuz.

Under the blockade, US Central Command (Centcom) said it has ordered 33 vessels to return to port, and the DoD has said it will continue to stop ships suspected of "providing material support to Iran - anywhere they operate".

Iran described one US ship interception earlier this week as "piracy".

Trump has been hoping to put pressure on Tehran by targeting the country's oil revenues and tolls Tehran said it has collected from ships in order to navigate freely through the strait.

Speaking at a White House event on Thursday, he said the blockade was "100% effective" and Iran is "getting no business".

Trump also claimed to have rejected an offer from Iran to reopen the strait three days ago, saying that "it will open when we make a deal".

Hamidreza Haji Bababei, the deputy speaker of the Iranian Parliament, on Thursday claimed the first revenues collected from tolls imposed on ships using the vital waterway had been deposited with the country's Central Bank.

No further detail has been provided on the amount of the toll, the method of collection nor who paid it. The BBC could not independently verify this claim.

The US has continued to impose its naval blockade despite Trump extending a two-week ceasefire at the request of mediator Pakistan.

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who led the first round of peace negotiations, has said it is "not possible" to reopen the strait due to the blockade and what it called other ceasefire violations.

Writing on Truth Social on Thursday, Trump said US forces have "total control" of the Strait of Hormuz while claiming Iranians are "having a very hard time figuring out who their leader is".

A day earlier, Iran's navy said it had seized two cargo ships in the strait and taken them to the country's coast after reports that three vessels came under fire from Iranian forces.

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)-affiliated outlet Fars News Agency said IRGC was behind the attacks.

BBC Verify has analysed footage shared by the IRGC that purports to show Iranian soldiers seizing the two ships, finding that while the two vessels - MSC Francesca and the Epaminondas - are clearly identifiable, aerial shots appear to have been filmed several hours after the reported initial attack.

Greek authorities have denied the Epaminondas was seized and said its captain remains in control. However, the transponders of both vessels have been switched off.

On Thursday, Trump also said he had ordered the US Navy to "shot and kill" boats laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz.

"There is to be no hesitation," he said in a social media post, adding that US mine "sweepers" are clearing the strait "right now".

The update comes as the Pentagon dismissed reports suggesting that US forces may require six months to remove any mines located in the shipping lane.

"One assessment does not mean the assessment is plausible, and a six-month closure of the Strait of Hormuz is an impossibility and completely unacceptable to the Secretary," Pentagon Chief Spokesman Sean Parnell told the BBC.

In a phone interview with the BBC's North America editor Sarah Smith, Trump said Iran is "dying to make a deal", adding his stance "seems to be working very well".

The US president announced on Tuesday he would extend the ceasefire with Iran to allow the regime more time to create a "unified proposal" to end the war. He did not specify how long the ceasefire might last.

Writing on Truth Social on Thursday, he disputed reports that he is "anxious" to end the war, saying that while he has "all the time in the World ...Iran doesn't - The clock is ticking!"

Despite the impact the war has been having on the already-struggling Iranian economy, including a massive wave of redundancies and a plunge of consumer spending, Tehran has shown little sign of backing down.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the country is "united, more than ever before" in a statement on X. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Ghalibaf issued similar statements in which they described Iran's "iron unity".

The war started when the US and Israel attacked Iran on 28 February.

Israel's defence minister, Israel Katz, said on Thursday his country stands ready to resume hostilities and return Iran "to the dark and stone ages".

Katz said Israel is "waiting for the green light from the US...to complete the elimination of the Khamenei dynasty".

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader since 1989, was killed on the first day of the war in February. His second son, Mojtaba Khamenei, succeeded him on 8 March but has not been seen in public since.