Trump Orders Navy Blockade of Strait of Hormuz After Iran Talks Collapse
Quick Reads
- Trump ordered the US Navy to immediately blockade all ships entering or leaving the Strait of Hormuz after peace talks in Pakistan collapsed.
- US Vice President JD Vance led a 21-hour negotiating session in Islamabad, but no agreement was reached with Iran.
- Iran’s lead negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf blamed the US for failing to gain the trust of the Iranian delegation.
- The nuclear question was the core sticking point, with Vance demanding Iran commit to abandoning its nuclear weapons programme.
- Pakistan urged both sides to maintain the fragile ceasefire and offered to continue facilitating dialogue in the coming days.
The Trump order of Navy blockade of the Strait of Hormuz is now underway. President Donald Trump announced the naval blockade on Sunday after US-Iran peace talks in Islamabad, Pakistan ended without agreement. The session lasted over 21 hours. It was the highest-level direct contact between the two governments since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Talks Collapse After 21-Hour Session
Vice President JD Vance led the American delegation in Islamabad. He told reporters on Sunday morning that Iran had rejected what he called “our final and best offer.” “We need to see an affirmative commitment that they will not seek a nuclear weapon,” Vance said, adding the US had not yet received that assurance.
Iran’s Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf led Tehran’s delegation. Ghalibaf said the US “was not able, in this round of negotiations, to gain the trust of the Iranian delegation.” Iranian state media attributed the breakdown to what it called excessive US demands.
The talks were the first face-to-face negotiations since the US-Israeli strikes began on February 28. Those strikes have killed at least 3,000 people in Iran, 2,020 in Lebanon, 23 in Israel, and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states.
Trump Orders Trump Navy Blockade Of Strait of Hormuz
Hours after Vance departed Islamabad, Trump posted his announcement on Truth Social. He called Iran’s control of the waterway “WORLD EXTORTION.” He ordered the US Navy to blockade all ships entering or leaving the Strait of Hormuz and to intercept every vessel that had paid a toll to Iran in international waters.
Trump had been discussing the blockade option with his team for several days as a contingency plan if diplomatic talks failed. “We want to take this card from the Iranians,” a senior US official said.
Trump also said the US forces would begin destroying mines laid by Iran in the waterway. He added that other countries would join the blockade. He did not name them.
Iran’s Toll System at the Heart of the Dispute
Iran’s grip on the Strait of Hormuz sits at the centre of the deadlock. Senior Iranian officials told the New York Times that Tehran planned to impose a roughly $2 million toll on every container ship passing through the reopened waterway. Reuters reported that no such unilateral demand for fees to traverse an international strait has been made in modern history.
Before the war, more than 100 ships crossed the strait daily. That figure has dropped to around 10 vessels per day, according to ship-tracking data. The disruption has pushed Brent crude prices up between 10 and 13 percent, with analysts warning they could exceed $100 per barrel if the blockade holds. Roughly one fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas normally passes through the strait each day.
Pakistan Urges Ceasefire; What Comes Next
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar appealed to both sides immediately after the talks ended. “It is imperative that the parties continue to uphold their commitment to ceasefire,” Dar said. WAFB He described the session as “intense and constructive” and pledged that Islamabad would keep facilitating dialogue.
Vance did not preview any future negotiations. He suggested Iran could still return to accept the United States’ “final and best offer,” but gave no timeline. Israel’s strikes in southern Lebanon continued overnight, even as the Islamabad talks were underway. The deadlock mirrored February’s failed nuclear talks in Switzerland, with each side’s positions appearing unchanged after six weeks of fighting. The two-week ceasefire that took effect on April 8 now hangs in serious doubt.
