Trump Orders Blockade of Strait of Hormuz After Iran Talks Fail
ISLAMABAD — President Donald Trump said Sunday that the U.S. Navy would “immediately” begin a blockade of ships entering or leaving the Strait of Hormuz, after U.S.-Iran ceasefire talks in Pakistan ended without an agreement.
U.S. Central Command announced it will blockade all Iranian ports beginning Monday at 10 a.m. ET. CENTCOM said the blockade will be “enforced impartially against vessels of all nations,” while still allowing ships traveling between non-Iranian ports to transit the strait. The announcement landed as negotiators were still trying to figure out what a ceasefire actually means, and for how long.
Trump has framed the move as pressure to weaken Iran’s key leverage in the conflict, after demanding that Iran reopen the waterway to all global traffic. Before the fighting began, the strait was responsible for 20% of global oil shipping. Even in the days since the ceasefire, traffic has been limited, and marine trackers say over 40 commercial ships have crossed since the start of the ceasefire.
A U.S. blockade could further rattle global energy markets. Trump told Fox News, “It’s going to be all or none, and that’s the way it is.” On social media, he also said he told the Navy to “seek and interdict every vessel in International Waters that has paid a toll to Iran.” In the same post, he added: “No one who pays an illegal toll will have safe passage on the high seas.” Trump said other nations would be involved, but did not name them.
Freedom of peaceful navigation remains a basic principle of international maritime trade. Iran, for its part, quickly signaled it would not treat the strait as negotiable in the way the U.S. wants. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard later said the strait remained under Iran’s “full control” and was open for non-military vessels, but military ones would get a “forceful response,” according to two semi-official Iranian news agencies. It’s hard to overstate how much that distinction matters—non-military or military, transit or entry—because in practice, those categories become arguments in real time.
During the 21-hour talks, the U.S. military said two destroyers had transited the strait ahead of mine-clearing work, a first since the war began. Iran denied it. Trump has also said Tehran’s nuclear ambitions were at the core of the talks’ failure, and he again threatened to strike civilian infrastructure in comments to Fox News.
Some analysts who follow security questions were skeptical the plan is realistic. Misryoum editorial analysis notes that Trump’s plan to use the Navy to block the strait is unrealistic and that he will have to concede on some issues with Iran. Andreas Krieg, a senior lecturer in security studies at Kings College London, said, “There isn’t any tool in the toolbox in terms of the military lever that he could use to get his way.”
As for what happens next, the ceasefire ends April 22, but neither side indicated what comes after. Vice President JD Vance, leading the U.S. side, said, “We need to see an affirmative commitment that they will not seek a nuclear weapon.” U.S. negotiators said Iranian officials couldn’t agree to all U.S. “red lines,” including Iran never obtaining a nuclear weapon, ending uranium enrichment, dismantling major enrichment facilities and allowing retrieval of its highly enriched uranium, along with opening the Strait of Hormuz and ending funding for Hamas, Hezbollah and Houthi rebels.
Inside Iran, the failure was met with new exhaustion and anger after months of unrest that began with nationwide protests against economic issues and then political ones—followed by weeks of sheltering from U.S. and Israeli bombardment. In Tehran, Mohammad Bagher Karami said, “We have never sought war. But if they try to win what they failed to win on the battlefield through talks, that’s absolutely unacceptable.”
Elsewhere in the region, airstrikes calmed over the past day except in Lebanon, where the Iran-linked negotiations intersected with Israel’s ongoing campaign. Iran’s 10-point proposal called for a halt to Israeli strikes on the Iranian-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon. Israel has said the ceasefire did not apply in Lebanon, but Iran and Pakistan said it did. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited parts of southern Lebanon under Israeli control Sunday, for the first time since the current round of fighting.
Negotiations between Israel and Lebanon are expected to begin Tuesday in Washington after Israel’s surprise announcement authorizing talks despite their lack of official relations. Israel wants Lebanon’s government to assume responsibility for disarming Hezbollah, but the militant group has survived efforts to curb its strength for decades. Still, even as the diplomatic chessboard expands, the immediate focus remains on the strait—because once ships change course, it’s not just policy anymore. It becomes the sound of engines slowing down, the smell of fuel lingering in paperwork and ports, and the quiet question of who decides what counts as “safe passage” when the window closes.
Misryoum newsroom reported Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said his country will try to facilitate a new dialogue in the coming days. Iran said it was open to continuing dialogue. The European Union urged further diplomatic efforts, and the foreign minister of Oman called for parties to “make painful concessions.” The Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin “emphasized his readiness” to help bring about a diplomatic settlement in a call with Iran’s president.
In a new statement on his return to Iran, Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, who led Iran’s side, addressed Trump: “If you fight, we will fight.” And as the ceasefire timeline ticks toward April 22, even the most carefully arranged negotiations may not stop the next decision from being made fast.
Brian Hooker described wife’s disappearance night in Bahamas calls
With Artemis II back on Earth, what’s next for NASA?
Trump dodges gas-price question as Strait of Hormuz blockade plan looms