President Donald Trump said on Sunday the U.S. Navy would start blockading the Strait of Hormuz, raising the stakes after marathon talks with Iran failed to reach a deal to end the war, jeopardising a fragile two-week ceasefire.
Trump also said in a post on Truth Social that the U.S. would take action against every vessel in international waters that had paid a toll to Iran, and begin destroying mines that he said the Iranians had dropped in the strait, a choke point for about 20% of global energy supplies that Iran has blocked.
“Effective immediately, the United States Navy, the Finest in the World, will begin the process of BLOCKADING any and all Ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz,” he 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,” Trump added.
“Any Iranian who fires at us, or at peaceful vessels, will be BLOWN TO HELL!” he added.
Trump later told Fox News that NATO allies, whom he has criticised for failing to back the war he launched along with Israel on February 28, wanted to help with the operation in the strait. There was no immediate comment from Washington’s allies.
TRADING BLAME
Trump also said he expected that the Iranians would return to the bargaining table and “give us everything we want” following the weekend talks in Islamabad, adding that a comment he made last week about wiping out Iranian civilisation had helped to get them to negotiate in the first place.
Earlier, each side blamed the other for the failure of the talks to end six weeks of fighting that has killed thousands, roiled the global economy and sent oil prices soaring.
“The bad news is that we have not reached an agreement, and I think that’s bad news for Iran much more than it’s bad news for the United States of America,” said Vice President JD Vance, who headed the U.S. delegation to the Islamabad talks.
Iran’s Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, who led his country’s delegation along with Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, blamed the U.S. for not winning Tehran’s trust despite his team offering “forward-looking initiatives”.
“The U.S. has understood Iran’s logic and principles and it’s time for them to decide whether they can earn our trust or not,” Qalibaf said on X.
The talks, which followed the announcement of a ceasefire last Tuesday, were the first direct U.S.-Iranian meeting in more than a decade and the highest-level discussions since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Vance said Iran had chosen not to accept American terms, including not to build nuclear weapons.
“I could go into great detail, and talk about much that has been gotten but, there is only one thing that matters — IRAN IS UNWILLING TO GIVE UP ITS NUCLEAR AMBITIONS!” Trump said later.
Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency said “excessive” U.S. demands had hindered reaching a deal. Other Iranian media said there was agreement on a number of issues, but the Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s nuclear programme were the main points of difference.
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Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said it was “imperative” to preserve the ceasefire.
Speaking in Rome, Pope Leo also called on Sunday for a lasting ceasefire and said how close he felt to the “beloved Lebanese people”.
ISRAEL CONTINUES BOMBING LEBANON
Israeli security cabinet minister Zeev Elkin told Army Radio that more talks were still an option, but added: “The Iranians are playing with fire.”
Even as the talks took place, Israel continued bombing Tehran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon, insisting – along with Washington – that that conflict was not part of the Iran-U.S. ceasefire. Iran says the fighting in Lebanon must stop.
The Israeli military said it struck Hezbollah rocket launchers overnight into Sunday and black smoke could be seen rising in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital Beirut on Sunday.
In Israeli villages near the border, air raid sirens sounded, warning of incoming rocket fire from Lebanon.
Tehran is demanding control of the Strait of Hormuz, payment of war reparations and a ceasefire across the region, according to Iranian state TV and officials, as well as the release of its frozen assets abroad.
Tehran also wants to collect transit fees in the Strait of Hormuz.
Despite the differences in Islamabad, three supertankers fully laden with oil passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, shipping data showed, in what appeared to be the first vessels to exit the Gulf since the ceasefire deal.
