President Donald Trump ordered the US Navy on Sunday 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 Trump’s announcement, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) warned that it had traffic in the strategic waterway under its 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, 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,” Trump said. “Any Iranian who fires at us, or at peaceful vessels, will be BLOWN TO HELL!”
Iran’s Parliamentary 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 oil and gas shipments – 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,” 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 Saturday 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 state-affiliated Fars news agency reported on Sunday 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.
‘Act of extortion’
Trump later in a Fox News interview again threatened Iran’s energy infrastructure, before warning he would impose a 50 percent 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,” 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.
Iran’s refusal to give up its right to a nuclear program frustrated the US delegation, led by Vice President JD Vance, White House envoy Steve Witkoff and 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!” Trump said.
“The Blockade will begin shortly. Other Countries will be involved with this Blockade,” he added, without specifying which ones.
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