The US Central Command said that United States forces would enforce a blockade of all maritime traffic entering and leaving Iranian ports at 10:00 a.m. ET (19:30 IST) on 13 April.
CENTCOM’s announcement came hours later President Donald Trump announced the naval blockade in a manner that escalated tensions with Iran after talks failed to resolve disputes over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.
Read also | Iran was inches away from a US deal in Islamabad, says Araghchi
Negotiators from the US and Iran have failed to reach an agreement to end the war in West Asia, which began on 28 February. A two-week truce was declared last Tuesday.
President Trump said Iran had not agreed to the most important part of the talks, which was to give up its nuclear ambitions, Trump said Iran had laid mines in the Strait of Hormuz and was “blackmailing” countries through it.
Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi he said Tehran was “inches away” from a deal with the United States during weekend talks in Islamabad, Pakistan, in the face of maximalism, goal-shifting and a blockade.
What did Donald Trump say about the blockade?
President Trump announced the naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz in a post on Truth Social on Sunday. “Effective immediately, the United States Navy … will begin the process of BLOCKING all ships attempting to enter or exit the Strait of Hormuz.” He added that the move was aimed at countering what he described as “world blackmail” by Iran.
“I have also directed our Navy to seek out and interdict any vessel in international waters that has paid tolls to Iran. No one who pays illegal tolls will have safe passage on the high seas,” President Trump said, adding that the US would also begin destroying mines he said Iran had placed in the strait.
“Any Iranian who fires at us or peaceful vessels will BURN IN HELL!” he continued.
“Agreement on free passage at some point”
President Trump also said that ‘at some point’ a free passage deal would be reached, but “Iran wouldn’t allow it by just saying ‘There could be a mine out there’ that no one knows about but them”.
In another post, he added that “Iran promised to open the Strait of Hormuz and knowingly failed to do so.”
“As promised, they better start the process of opening this INTERNATIONAL WATERWAY AND FAST!” he said.
How will the blockade work?
according to US Navy Commander’s Handbook on naval operations.
President Trump initially said the US Navy would begin the process of blocking the strait with “immediate effect”. He later told US television Fox News that the blockade “will take some time, but it will be effective soon”, describing it as an “all or nothing” policy.
The US Central Command said the US will enforce a blockade of all maritime traffic entering and leaving Iranian ports at 10:00 AM ET, which is 19:30 Indian Standard Time on Monday, April 13.
What did CENTCOM say about the naval blockade?
According to a CENTCOM statement on X, the blockade “would be applied impartially against vessels of all nations entering or leaving Iranian ports and coastal areas, including all Iranian ports on Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman.”
CENTCOM forces will not impede freedom of navigation for vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz to and from non-Iranian ports. it was said.
“Further information will be provided to commercial mariners through a formal notification prior to the commencement of the blockade. All mariners are advised to monitor the Notice to Mariners broadcast and contact US Naval Forces on bridge-to-bridge channel 16 while operating in the Gulf of Oman and approaching the Strait of Hormuz,” CENTCOM said.
Significance of the Strait of Hormuz
Last week, the US and Iran reached a ceasefire agreement, hours before Donald Trump’s ultimatum that “the whole civilization will die tonight” if Iran fails to strike a deal that would include reopening the vital Strait of Hormuz.
The ceasefire came six weeks after the war in West Asia began with joint US-Israeli attacks on Iran. Tensions escalated after the killing of Iran’s 86-year-old supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khameneiin military strikes on February 28.
In retaliation, Iran targeted Israeli and American assets across several countries Persian Gulf countriescausing further disruption to the waterway and affecting international energy markets as well as global economic stability and disrupting trade routes through the Strait of Hormuz.
The Strait of Hormuzone of the world’s most critical oil transit points, has been at the center of rising tensions. The geography of the strait allowed Iran to use it as leverage during this war by selectively preventing vessels from passing through it and consequently driving up oil prices in the process.
Tehran also charges huge sums of money for some vessels to pass through, according to a BBC report.
What impact would that have?
By closing the strait, President Trump could cut off a source of revenue for the Iranian government. However, it could send oil and gas prices even higher.
Analysts quoted by international media said the US president’s statement was aimed at putting pressure on Iran to conclude the deal on US terms.
Republican Congressman Mike Turner of Ohio said on CBS’ Face the Nation that the blockade is a means of forcing a resolution to the situation in Hormuz.
“The president, by saying we’re not going to let them decide who goes through, he’s certainly bringing all of our allies and everybody to the table,” he said. “That needs to be addressed.”
Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, a Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, told CNN on Sunday that he “doesn’t see how blocking the strait is going to somehow force the Iranians to open it.”
In terms of impact, President Trump’s threat of a blockade the strait will only affect the small handful of vessels still plying the waterway, shipping expert Lars Jensen told the BBC.
“If the Americans actually do this, it will stop a very small trickle of vessels. In the larger scheme of things, it doesn’t really change anything,” he said.
Jensen, who is chief executive of Vespucci Maritime, told the BBC that Trump’s threat to prevent the safe passage of any toll-paying ship to Iran would also have little impact because any company that did so would already face sanctions for paying the regime.
“First of all, very few ships are going through. Those that pay are even fewer, and those that do will already be subject to US sanctions,” he says.
What is the current situation in the strait?
Under the two-week ceasefire in the US-Iran-Israeli war agreed on April 7, one of the conditions was guaranteed “safe passage” through the strait.
But ships in the region received reports that they would be “targeted and destroyed” if they tried to cross the strait without permission, and only a few ships made the trip in the first three days after the ceasefire was announced, the BBC reported.
By 21:30 on 10 April, only 19 ships had been observed passing through the strait since the cease-fire on 7 April. BBC Verify analysis ship tracking data from MarineTraffic.
Any Iranian who shoots at us or peaceful vessels will BURN IN HELL!
An average of 138 ships passed through the strait each day before the war in West Asia began on 28 April.
(With input from the BBC and agencies)
