President Donald Trump on Sunday ordered a naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz after talks between the U.S. and Iran failed in Islamabad, Pakistan.
“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 wrote on Truth Social.
The move is set to end Iran’s global energy blackmail, extorting money from countries that try to get their oil tankers through the narrow waterway. Around 20% of the world’s oil supplies passed through the Strait before the war.
“THIS IS WORLD EXTORTION,” President Trump wrote, “and Leaders of Countries, especially the United States of America, will never be extorted. I have also instructed our Navy to seek and interdict every vessel in International Waters that has paid a toll to Iran.”
President Trump’s statement comes a day after the U.S. Navy launched an operation to clear the Hormuz Strait, as talks to end the conflict are underway in Pakistan. In late February, Iran laid mines in the Strait, threatening the global oil and gas supply.
The BBC reported Friday that Iran had proposed to “levy a fee in return for safe passage” of ships passing through the maritime chokepoint. The opening of the Strait was central to President Trump’s decision to allow a two-week ceasefire, ending a six-week-long military operation against 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,” he added. “Any Iranian who fires at us, or at peaceful vessels, will be BLOWN TO HELL! Iran knows, better than anyone, how to END this situation which has already devastated their Country.”
Iran refused to abandon its nuclear program or open the Hormuz Strait in the weekend’s talks with Vice President JD Vance in Islamabad, ending hopes of a negotiated settlement.
In a separate post on Truth Social, President Trump noted that “Iran is unwilling to give up its nuclear ambitions,” leading to the failure of the talks.
Recalling his long-held conviction on the issue, he added that “as I have always said, right from the beginning, and many years ago, IRAN WILL NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON!”
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