The United States has deployed a third aircraft carrier battle group to the Middle East as the crisis with Iran continues to disrupt global energy markets and raise fears of wider regional conflict.

The USS George H.W. Bush arrived in the region on Thursday, the US military said, as President Donald Trump ordered the navy to “shoot and kill” any boats laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz, which Tehran has closed. The US is also maintaining a blockade of Iranian ports.

Oil prices extended gains and stocks struggled as investors worried about a lack of progress in ending the crisis. The market for liquefied natural gas, which has been strained by the war, will remain “tight” through 2026 and 2027, the International Energy Agency said.

“It is in everyone’s interest for stability to return as soon as possible and for the world’s economies to be reassured,” French President Emmanuel Macron said as he attended a European Union summit in Nicosia, where talks with Middle East leaders were also scheduled.

Trump said on Thursday the United States is under no pressure to end the war with Iran, but “the clock is ticking” for Tehran as disruption from the conflict batters the world economy. He ruled out striking Iran with a nuclear weapon, saying “a nuclear weapon should never be allowed to be used by anybody”.

The US Defense Department said Thursday its forces boarded a vessel in the Indian Ocean that was providing material support to Iran, the second time it had done so in three days.

Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz said the country was “prepared to resume the war” and was awaiting a green light from Washington to return Iran “to the Stone Age”.

ALSO READ: Israel-Lebanon ceasefire extended as tensions escalate across region

The ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon will be extended for three weeks, Trump announced Thursday. “I think there’s a very good chance of having peace. I think it should be an easy one,” Trump told reporters, adding that he plans to meet with top leadership from both countries in the next couple of weeks.

However, Hezbollah said on Thursday it fired rockets at the Shtula settlement in northern Israel, accusing Israel of “violation of the ceasefire and its targeting of the town of Yater in southern Lebanon”.

ALSO READ: Trump looks for way out of war, but Iran may not oblige

The US State Department is offering up to $10 million for information on the leader of the Tehran-backed Iraqi armed group Kataeb Sayyid al-Shuhada, which Washington designates as a terrorist organisation.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday that Iran’s footballers will be welcome at this year’s World Cup, distancing the US government from a proposal that Italy could take their place in the tournament. Rubio denied that Washington had asked the Iranian team not to come, but warned members of its delegation deemed to have ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps may be barred.

ALSO READ: MIDDLE EAST WAR | Trump extends ceasefire to give Iran time to negotiate