U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday he has ordered the U.S. military to "shoot and kill" small Iranian boats that deploy mines to choke traffic through the Strait of Hormuz as Israel says it's ready to resume attacks on Iran.

Trump's post on social media came shortly after the U.S. seized another tanker associated with the smuggling of Iranian oil, ratcheting up a standoff with Tehran over the strait through which 20 per cent of all crude oil and natural gas traded passes.

"I have ordered the United States Navy to shoot and kill any boat, small boats though they may be ... that is putting mines in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz," Trump posted.

"There is to be no hesitation. Additionally, our mine 'sweepers' are clearing the Strait right now. I am hereby ordering that activity to continue, but at a tripled up level!"

Meanwhile, Israel's defence minister said Thursday that Israel is prepared to resume war with Iran and is awaiting a "green light" from the United States, according to a statement following a security assessment.

Israel Katz said the military is ready for both defensive and offensive operations and "targets are marked."

WATCH | Ships seized by Iran:

'Don't rush me'

Without providing ​any evidence, ​Trump said the ⁠U.S. ⁠had "total control" ‌over the strait, ‌and that it ​was "sealed ⁠up tight" ⁠until ⁠Iran ⁠made ​a deal.

In a testy exchange with reporters in the Oval Office Thursday afternoon, Trump pushed back against questions that the conflict is exceeding the four-to-six week timeline that he and aides previously set for the war.

"Don't rush me," he said, once again listing off other wars that went on for years as a comparison. "I want ⁠to make the best deal. ⁠I ⁠could make ​a deal right now ... but I don't ​want to ⁠do that. I want to have it everlasting," Trump said.

Asked by a reporter if he'd consider deploying nuclear weapons against the Islamic Republic, he said, "No, I wouldn't. We don't need it. Why do I need it? Why would a stupid question like that be asked?"

He went on to say, "A nuclear weapon should never be allowed to be used by anybody."

Trump's comments come a day after Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard attacked three cargo ships in the strait, capturing two of them.

The Defence Department released video footage of U.S. forces on the deck of the oil tanker Majestic X, which was seized 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," a Pentagon statement said.

Trump claims leadership rift in Iran

Ship-tracking data showed the Majestic X in the Indian Ocean between Sri Lanka and Indonesia, roughly the same location as the oil tanker Tifani, earlier seized by American forces. It had been bound for Zhoushan, China.

The vessel previously had been sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2024 for smuggling Iranian crude oil in contravention of U.S. sanctions.

There was no immediate response from Iran on the news of the seizure.

Trump this week extended a ceasefire to give the battered Iranian leadership more time to come with a "unified proposal" on ending the war, while maintaining an American blockade of Iranian ports.

There was no immediate sign whether peace talks, previously hosted by Pakistan, would resume anytime soon.

Trump, in a separate post on Thursday, claimed a leadership rift between moderates and hardliners was confounding Iran.

"Iran is having a very hard time figuring out who their leader is! They just don't know!" Trump said.

Trump has repeatedly said over the course of the ceasefire that began on April 8 that his team is dealing with Iranian officials who want to make a deal, while acknowledging his decision to kill several top leaders has come with some complications.

Iran's parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, wrote on X Thursday that Iran has "no radicals or moderates" and said his country would "make the aggressor criminal regret his actions."

Israel-Lebanon ceasefire extended

Later Thursday, Trump said that Israel and Lebanon have agreed to extend a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah by three weeks after talks at the White House.

Trump said on social media that the meeting between Israel's and Lebanon's ambassadors to the United States went "very well." It was the second high-level negotiation between the two countries since last week. The initial 10-day ceasefire, which took effect last Friday, had been due to expire Monday.

The latest war between Israel and Hezbollah started two days after Israel and the U.S. launched attacks on Iran, after the Tehran-backed militants fired rockets into northern Israel.

Since the ceasefire went into effect last week, there have been multiple violations by both side sides.

WATCH | Ceasefire extended, but blockade remains:

The standoff between the U.S. and Iran has choked off nearly all exports through the strait with no end in sight.

On Thursday, Iran's exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi was splattered with red liquid as he left a building after a news conference in Berlin. The alleged perpetrator was immediately detained by police.

During the event, Pahlavi criticized the ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran, arguing that the agreement assumes the Iranian government's behaviour will change and "you're going to deal with people who all of a sudden have become pragmatists."

Pahlavi, 65, has been in exile for nearly 50 years. His father, Iran's shah, was so widely hated that millions took to the streets in 1979, forcing him from power. Nevertheless, Pahlavi is trying to position himself as a player in his country's future.

Since the Feb. 28 start of the war between Iran, Israel and the U.S., over 30 ships have come under attack in the waters of the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman.

The threat of attack, rising insurance premiums and other fears have stopped traffic from moving through the strait. Iran's ability to restrict traffic through the strait, which leads from the Persian Gulf to the open ocean, has proved a major strategic advantage.

Jakob Larsen, the head of maritime security for BIMCO, the largest international association representing shipowners, said in a note Thursday that most shipping companies need a stable ceasefire and assurances from both sides of the conflict that the strait is safe for transit.

The threat of mines, he wrote, was a "particular concern" if traffic might return to normal levels one day.

The ceasefire has been strained by dueling U.S. attacks on Iranian ships and those by Iran on commercial vessels. It also remains unclear when, or if, the two sides will meet again in the Pakistani capital Islamabad, where officials say they are still trying to bring the countries together to reach a diplomatic deal.

The conflict already has sent gas prices skyrocketing far beyond the region and raised the cost of food and a wide array of other products. Officials around the world have warned the impact to businesses, consumers and economies could be long-lasting.