US President Donald Trump has announced that the US Navy will immediately begin a “blockade” of the Strait of Hormuz following talks with Iran that ended without agreement.
The US president also accused Tehran of extortion, referring to the fees charged to vessels seeking to traverse the strategically vital waterway.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said “I have also instructed our Navy to seek and interdict every vessel in International Waters that has paid a toll to Iran. No one who pays an illegal toll will have safe passage on the high seas“.
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He then went on to claim that “other Countries will be involved with this Blockade.”
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Trump then added that the US Navy will begin destroying Iranian mines in the strait, and threatened that Iranian forces that attempt to obstruct the effort “will be BLOWN TO HELL!”
RT reports: Earlier, the US and Iranian delegations left the marathon 21-hour talks in Islamabad without a peace deal, though a tentative ceasefire in the Gulf continues to hold.
US Vice President J.D. Vance, who led the US delegation, said Washington was “negotiating in good faith” and made its red lines “as clear as we possibly could,” but Iran has “chosen not to accept our terms.”
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said the talks produced some progress on several issues, but noted that differences remain on “two or three key points.”
A source close to the Iranian delegation told Fars that Washington was “looking for an excuse” to walk away, adding that Tehran refused US conditions on the Strait of Hormuz, peaceful nuclear energy, and other core issues, and added that Iran has no plans for another round of talks.
Commenting on the failed talks in Islamabad, Trump claimed that the Iranian negotiators “were very unyielding” on uranium enrichment – the “single most important issue” to the US.
Key developments:
- US Vice President J.D. Vance, US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, and the rest of the US negotiating team have left Pakistan, according to media reports.
- The IDF has been instructed to assume a “heightened state of readiness” in anticipation of a resumption of the hostilities, Israeli media reports.
- Trump has said he ordered the US Navy to remove Iranian mines from the Strait of Hormuz. CENTCOM earlier announced that the US Navy destroyers USS Frank E. Petersen and USS Michael Murphy crossed the waterway and operated in the Arabian Gulf as part of the mission.
- Iranian military spokesman Ebrahim Zolfaghari has denied US claims of a minesweeping operation in Hormuz, insisting that any vessel seeking to pass through the key waterway requires permission from the Iranian armed forces.
