U.S. orders naval blockade
The U.S. announced it will stop ships entering or leaving the Strait of Hormuz and said a blockade of Iranian ports would begin Monday, marking a sharp military escalation in the Gulf. The move followed weekend talks in Islamabad that produced no breakthrough between Washington and Tehran, with both sides publicly blaming the other for the failure. U.S. Central Command publicly described the blockade as beginning Monday while President Trump framed the step in statements after the talks. (apnews.com) (insidenova.com) (gulfnews.com)
President Donald Trump said on Sunday, April 12, that the United States Navy would begin stopping ships tied to Iran in the Strait of Hormuz, with enforcement starting Monday. (apnews.com) United States Central Command said the blockade would begin at 10 a.m. Eastern time on Monday, April 13, and would apply to vessels of all nations entering or leaving Iranian ports on the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman. (centcom.mil) Central Command also said ships sailing through the strait to non-Iranian ports would still be allowed to pass, narrowing Trump’s earlier language about blocking “any and all” ships entering or leaving the waterway. (centcom.mil) The order followed 21 hours of talks in Islamabad, Pakistan, where United States and Iranian officials ended the weekend without an agreement on Iran’s nuclear program or a next round of diplomacy. (apnews.com) Vice President JD Vance said after the meeting that “no agreement” had been reached, while Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran and Washington had come close on several points but remained apart on the nuclear issue. (gulfnews.com) The Strait of Hormuz is the narrow sea lane between Iran and Oman that links the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. Before the current fighting, about 20% of global oil shipments moved through that route, making any military move there a risk for energy markets and commercial shipping. (pbs.org) Trump said Iran had refused to give up what he called its “nuclear ambitions” and said the blockade would stop Tehran from using the strait as leverage while the war continued. (apnews.com) Iran has not accepted the United States account of the talks, and reporting from Al Jazeera said Tehran warned that foreign military vessels approaching Iranian waters would be treated as violating the ceasefire. (aljazeera.com) By Monday morning, the immediate question was no longer whether Washington would escalate, but how Iran, commercial shippers, and oil traders would respond once the blockade clock hit 10 a.m. Eastern time. (nprillinois.org)
