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Iran live updates: Trump orders Navy to 'shoot,' 'kill' boats putting mines in strait

Disruption in the strategic waterway has roiled global economies.

Last Updated: April 23, 2026, 10:09 AM EDT

President Donald Trump announced "major combat operations" against Iran on Feb. 28, with massive joint U.S.-Israeli strikes targeting military, government and infrastructure sites.

Following the announcement of a two-week ceasefire, initial U.S.-Iran talks in Pakistan earlier this month failed to reach a peace deal. On Tuesday, Trump announced he was extending the ceasefire and continuing the blockade until Iran's proposal is submitted and discussions are concluded "one way or the other."

3 hours and 20 minutes ago

Iranian oil passing through US blockade, maritime tracking groups say

Cargo tracking group Vortexa told ABC News it identified 34 sanctioned or Iranian-linked ships moving in and out of the Gulf of Oman through the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports which came into effect on April 13.

Fifteen of those were inbound toward Iran, while 19 were outbound away from Iran.

Of the observed outbound movements, six of the ships were confirmed to be laden with approximately 10.7 million barrels of Iranian crude oil.

Financial Markets Wall Street
Traders Jim Bodner, left, and Chris Lagana work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, April 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
The Associated Press

However, after Vortexa shared its data and media outlets named three of those ships, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) publicly refuted that the three named ships had evaded the blockade.

CENTCOM said two of those ships -- the Hero II and Hedy -- had returned to an Iranian port, and that the third -- the Dorena -- was "under the escort of a U.S. Navy destroyer in the Indian Ocean after previously attempting to violate the blockade."

It was not immediately clear whether the M/T Majestic X, which the U.S. announced Thursday it had interdicted in the Indian Ocean for carrying oil from Iran, was also one of the ships tracked as having moved through the blockade.

Vortexa said that the blockade is having some effect but, "based on observed vessel activity, flows have continued, although in a more constrained and selective environment."

TankerTrackers.com, a maritime intelligence company that tracks crude oil shipments, told ABC News that they observed nine shipments of Iranian oil pass through the U.S. blockade between April 13 and 20, one of which has been sent back to Iran.

Of the nine shipments, eight were tankers belonging to Iran's National Iranian Tanker Company and one was independently-owned.

-ABC News' Victoria Beaule and Chris Looft

3 hours and 39 minutes ago

US boards Iran-linked tanker in the Indian Ocean

The Pentagon said in a post to X on Thursday that U.S. forces interdicted and boarded the M/T Majestic X tanker in the Indian Ocean overnight, a vessel it said was "transporting oil from Iran" as part of Tehran's illicit oil fleet.

The seizure is the second this week in the Indian Ocean. "We will continue global maritime enforcement to disrupt illicit networks and interdict vessels providing material support to Iran, wherever they operate," the Pentagon said.

-ABC News' Luis Martinez

6:28 AM EDT

1st Strait of Hormuz toll revenues banked, Iran lawmaker says

Hamidreza Hajibabaei, the deputy speaker of Iran's parliament, said Thursday that the first revenues from Iran's new tolls on shipping transiting the Strait of Hormuz have been deposited into the state's central bank account, according to the semi-official Fars News Agency.

"We have control over this Strait," Hajibabaei said, speaking at a public gathering in the western city of Kuhdasht.

PHOTO: This screen grab taken from a video released by Iran's IRGC and made available via Iran's state broadcaster on April 23, 2026, shows an IRGC boat allegedly taking part in an operation to seize ships attempting to cross the Strait of Hormuz.
This screen grab taken from undated video footage released by Iran's Revolutionary Guards and made available via Iran's state broadcaster on April 23, 2026, shows an IRGC boat allegedly taking part in an operation to seize ships attempting to cross the Strait of Hormuz.
Irib Tv/AFP via Getty Images

"If the United States continues on its current course, no vessels will pass through the Strait of Hormuz," Hajibabaei said. He added, "We are not engaged in negotiations -- rather, we are making demands."

Alireza Salimi, another member of the Iranian parliament, confirmed the deposit of the revenues in an interview with the semi-official Tasnim News Agency on Thursday.

"The amount collected from each ship depends on its cargo and level of risk they pose," Salimi said, as quoted by Tasnim.

"Iran determines how much and how these fees are collected, in other words, we determine the rules," Salimi said.

-ABC News' Somayeh Malekian

6:13 AM EDT

IDF to retain positions in south Lebanon amid ceasefire, spokesperson says

Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Avichay Adraee said in a post to X on Thursday that Israeli forces will maintain their positions in southern Lebanon amid the current ceasefire with the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group.

Adraee warned displaced people "not to move south" of the front line dictated by the IDF, nor to approach the Litani River area, Wadi Salhani or Saluki.

Adraee listed 57 villages to which people will not be allowed to return.

Israeli soldiers patrol along the border with southern Lebanon on April 17, 2026.
Jalaa Marey/AFP via Getty Images

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