Washington: US President Donald Trump on Sunday announced that the US Navy would immediately enforce a blockade on vessels entering or leaving the Strait of Hormuz, hours after peace talks with Iran collapsed over the nuclear issue.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he had directed the Navy to identify and interdict any vessel in international waters that had paid a toll to Iran. “No one who pays an illegal toll will have safe passage on the high seas,” he said, adding that other countries would also participate in enforcing the blockade of the crucial waterway, through which nearly one-fifth of the world’s oil supply passes.
Escalating his rhetoric, Trump warned that the US military was “fully locked and loaded” and would act decisively against Iran if required.
The President said he was briefed on the Islamabad talks by Vice President J. D. Vance, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, and Jared Kushner. He noted that while several points were agreed upon during the discussions, the central issue of Iran’s nuclear programme remained unresolved. “The meeting went well, most points were agreed to, but the only point that really mattered — nuclear — was not,” he said.
Trump also acknowledged the role of Pakistan’s Field Marshal Asim Munir and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in hosting the talks in Islamabad, describing them as “extraordinary men”.
He said that although the agreed points were preferable to prolonged military conflict, they were insignificant compared to the risk of Iran acquiring nuclear weapons. Reiterating his long-standing position, Trump asserted that “Iran will never have a nuclear weapon.”
The US President added that American representatives developed a cordial rapport with Iranian negotiators — Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, Abbas Araghchi, and Ali Bagheri — but said Tehran remained firm and unyielding on the key issue.
The escalation comes amid an ongoing conflict that began on February 28, when the US and Israel launched military operations. The war has reportedly killed at least 3,000 people in Iran, 2,020 in Lebanon, 23 in Israel, and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states, while causing widespread infrastructure damage across several Middle Eastern countries.
Iran’s control over the Strait of Hormuz has significantly disrupted oil and gas flows from the Persian Gulf, driving global energy prices higher and intensifying economic pressures worldwide.
With PTI inputs