U.S. to blockade Iranian ports
After diplomatic talks in Islamabad failed, the U.S. military will begin a blockade of ships entering and leaving Iranian ports and Tehran has threatened retaliation against Gulf neighbours’ ports. (reuters.com) The operation is explicitly targeted at Iran’s ports rather than a full closure of the Strait of Hormuz, with U.S. officials saying they will not impede vessels transiting the strait. ( ) Observers reporting on the failed 21‑hour negotiations say the talks collapsed over core sticking points—chiefly Iran’s nuclear programme—which raises the risk the confrontation could broaden regionally. ( )
The United States said it will start blocking ships entering and leaving Iranian ports on Monday, hours after direct talks with Iran collapsed in Islamabad. (nytimes.com) United States Central Command said the blockade covers “Iranian ports and coastal areas” and begins at 10 a.m. Eastern time on April 13. The command said vessels sailing between non-Iranian ports will still be allowed to transit the Strait of Hormuz. (nytimes.com) Reuters reported the order applies to all maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports and coastal areas, not a blanket shutdown of the waterway itself. That distinction leaves open the route used by ships bound for Gulf states such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. (usnews.com) The move followed 21 hours of face-to-face negotiations in Pakistan that ran from Saturday into early Sunday and ended without an agreement. Vice President J.D. Vance, who led the United States delegation, said Iran had not accepted Washington’s terms. (time.com) The central dispute was Iran’s nuclear program. Vance said the United States wanted an “affirmative commitment” that Iran would neither seek a nuclear weapon nor keep the tools to build one quickly. (abcnews.go.com) Time reported that Tehran’s concern went beyond centrifuges and uranium: Iranian officials wanted proof that any deal would actually stop the war and prevent a return to bombing after concessions. Iran’s Parliament speaker, Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf, said the United States had failed to win the delegation’s trust. (time.com) The failed talks now put pressure on a two-week ceasefire that The Associated Press said is due to expire on April 22. The Islamabad meeting was also described as the first direct United States-Iran meeting in more than a decade and the highest-level contact since Iran’s 1979 revolution. (apnews.com, usnews.com) Iran responded with threats of retaliation beyond its own coastline. Reuters reported that Tehran warned it could target ports used by Gulf neighbors if the blockade goes ahead. (usnews.com) Military analysts told Navy Times that enforcing a blockade around Iran would be an open-ended naval operation, not a one-day show of force. That means the next test is not Monday’s announcement, but whether commercial shipping, Gulf governments and Iran’s armed forces treat the new lines at sea as real. (navytimes.com)
