Trump orders US naval blockade of Strait of Hormuz

WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump ordered the US Navy on April 12 to block the crucial Strait of Hormuz shipping lane, furious with Iran’s refusal to surrender its nuclear ambitions after peace talks in Pakistan broke down without an agreement.

In response to Mr Trump’s announcement, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards warned they had traffic in the strategic waterway under their full control and would trap any enemy who tried to challenge it “in a deadly vortex”.

In a lengthy declaration on his social media platform, Mr Trump said his eventual goal was to clear the strait of mines and reopen it to all shipping, but that in the meantime Iran must not be allowed to profit from its control of the waterway.

“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,” Mr Trump said. “Any Iranian who fires at us, or at peaceful vessels, will be BLOWN TO HELL!”.

Iran’s Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who led the Iranian delegation in Pakistan, said upon arriving back in Tehran that the country would “not bow to any threats” from Washington.

Tehran has itself been restricting traffic through the strait – a key route for global shipments of oil, gas and fertiliser – while allowing vessels deemed to be working for friendly countries, such as China, to pass. There have been unconfirmed reports that Tehran plans to charge tolls.

“THIS IS WORLD EXTORTION,” Mr 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. We will also begin destroying the mines the Iranians laid in the Straits.”

The US military had said on April 11 that two Navy warships transited through the strait to begin clearing it of mines and ensure it was a “safe pathway” for tankers, a claim denied by Tehran.

Iran’s Fars news agency reported on April 12 that two Pakistani-flagged oil tankers heading for the strait had turned around.

Fears of renewed fighting rattled an already tense region after the US-Iran talks collapsed.

“I am worried about the continuation of the situation and the return of attacks again,” said Ms Imam, an Egyptian housewife living in UAE capital Abu Dhabi.

“I was making a great effort not to pass my tension on to the children.”

‘Act of extortion’

Mr Trump later in a Fox News interview again threatened Iran’s energy infrastructure, before warning he would impose a 50 per cent tariff on Chinese imports if Beijing tried to help the Iranian military.

“I could take out Iran in one day. I could have their entire energy everything, every one of their plants, their electric generating plants, which is a big deal,” he said.

The president’s latest ultimatum appeared to have been triggered by the failure of talks to secure a deal to end the six-week-old war, which began when the US and Israel launched strikes on Tehran and killed Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei.

Iran’s refusal to give up its right to a nuclear programme frustrated the US delegation, led by Vice-President J.D. Vance, White House envoy Steve Witkoff and Mr Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.

“I have always said, right from the beginning, and many years ago, IRAN WILL NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON!” Mr Trump said.

“The Blockade will begin shortly. Other Countries will be involved with this Blockade,” he added, without specifying which ones.

After the talks – the highest-level meeting between the two sides since the 1979 Islamic revolution – Mr Vance warned that Washington had made Tehran its “final and best offer” for a deal, adding: “We’ll see if the Iranians accept it.”

Dr Ghalibaf said he had “put forward constructive initiatives” but the US team did not win Iran’s trust.

Iranian MP Mahmoud Nabavian, also present at the Pakistan talks, posted on X that the excessive US demands included “a joint share with Iran in the benefits of the Strait of Hormuz” alongside removing the country’s 60-per cent enriched uranium.

Expert Nicole Grajewski said a US blockade of the strait was “not a minor coercive signal”, but would rather be considered an effective renewal of the war.

“It suggests Washington is increasingly disillusioned with diplomacy and more willing to rely on direct military means,” said Dr Grajewski, an assistant professor at Sciences Po’s Center for International Research.

War continues

The failure of the talks will raise concerns that a return to fighting could drive world energy prices higher and further damage shipping and oil and gas facilities.

Pakistan urged both countries to continue respecting the temporary truce.

But concern has grown that the ceasefire could collapse in part because of continued Israeli strikes in Lebanon, where Iran has insisted the truce also applies.

Lebanese and Israeli officials are due to hold talks in Washington on April 14.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu paid a visit to troops in southern Lebanon, according to a video posted on April 12, saying the threat of a Hezbollah invasion of northern Israel was removed but the “war continues, including within the security zone in Lebanon”.

Ms Tamara, an 18-year-old cashier in Beirut, said focus should remain on her country, where Israeli strikes killed more than 350 people on April 8.

“We can’t say the war has stopped because there are talks,” she said.

“We mustn’t forget the massacre that happened.” AFP