Chaos of the oil blockade: Trump vows to bar all ships from the Strait of Hormuz TODAY as peace talks with Iran fail… and Israel ramps up ‘readiness’ for more fighting

Donald Trump plunged the world into chaos yesterday by announcing that America would blockade “any ship” trying to use the Strait of Hormuz.

The US President said he would ‘clean up’ the vital waterway through which 20 percent of the world’s oil and natural gas passes.

While Mr Trump did not explain how or when the blockade would be operational, US Central Command (Centcom) said last night that its forces would begin the blockade at 3pm UK time today.

“The blockade will be applied impartially against ships of all nations entering or leaving Iranian ports and coastal areas, including all Iranian ports in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman,” the statement said.

‘Centcom forces will not hinder the freedom of navigation of ships traveling through the Strait of Hormuz to ports outside Iran.’

It comes as Keir Starmer stressed the ‘need to work with a broad coalition of partners to protect freedom of navigation’ in the Bosphorus in his speech to French President Emmanuel Macron last night.

The Daily Mail understands that Britain will play no part in any move to blockade the Bosphorus.

Mr Trump wrote on social media: ‘Any Iranian who fires at us or at peaceful ships WILL BE THROWN TO HELL!’ He said the US would ‘finish what little is left of Iran’ and added: ‘THIS IS A WONDER OF THE WORLD.’

US President says he will ‘clean up’ Strait of Hormuz (pictured), through which 20 percent of the world’s oil and natural gas passes

“We are enforcing a complete blockade,” he told Fox News. We will not allow Iran to make money by selling oil to people it loves, rather than to people it dislikes. It will be all or nothing and that’s just the way it is.

‘We will clear the Bosphorus’ [ships] We’ll be able to use it at a distance that’s not too far away.’

Last night, the Wall Street Journal reported that Mr. Trump was considering resuming limited military strikes on Iran in addition to the blockade in a bid to make a breakthrough in peace talks.

This came as Tehran’s foreign minister claimed it was ‘inches away’ from reaching a deal with the US.

Oil and gas prices have risen and stock markets have fallen since Iran closed the Strait at the beginning of the conflict with the United States in February.

Airlines have warned of higher ticket prices as jet fuel costs double and supermarkets are likely to increase prices due to higher import and packaging costs.

Yesterday, Trump said that Iranian explosives would be cleared from the Bosphorus by minesweepers, including those from the UK.

‘We have highly advanced and best underwater minesweepers, but we are also bringing in more conventional minesweepers,’ he said.

‘I understand the UK and a few other countries are sending minesweepers.’

The blockade plan comes after peace talks with Iran led by US Vice President JD Vance in Islamabad, Pakistan, failed on Saturday.

While the debate was ongoing, Mr. Trump attended an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) match in Miami.

Cargo ships in the Gulf near the Strait of Hormuz amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, as seen from northern Ras al-Khaimah near the border with Oman’s Musandam administration, United Arab Emirates, March 11, 2026

A ship in the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Oman’s Musandam province, April 12, 2026

The president said the Iranians had refused to comply with his main demand that they give up their ambitions to have nuclear weapons.

‘They want to have nuclear weapons. They will not have nuclear weapons. I’ve been saying this for 30 years. “I would never let that happen,” he added.

His statement that US Navy ships will enter the Bosphorus may have been designed to put more pressure on Iran.

“I believe they will come to the table on this issue, because no one would be stupid enough to say ‘we want to have nuclear weapons’ when they don’t have the cards,” Trump said.

Referring to the threat that Iran’s ‘entire civilization’ would be destroyed last week, the President said: ‘This statement brought them to the bargaining table and they did not leave the table. I predict they will come back and give us everything we want.

‘And I told my people I wanted everything. I don’t want 90 percent, I don’t want 95 percent, I want everything.

‘I can destroy Iran in one day. I can get it out in an hour. There is not a single bridge or power generation plant still standing, and they have returned to the stone age. ‘I’d rather not do that.’

Iran has failed to fully reopen the Strait since a temporary ceasefire with the United States was declared last Tuesday.

A handful of tankers, mostly Chinese, passed through the transit route, but they appear to have paid tolls to Iran in cryptocurrency.

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces began determining conditions for demining the Strait of Hormuz on April 11 as two U.S. Navy guided missile destroyers conducted operations.

Smoke rises from the site of the Israeli air strike targeting the city of Nabatieh in southern Lebanon on April 12

Mr Trump said the US navy would ‘search and interdict’ ships paying such tolls.

The president also said he was ‘very disappointed’ that NATO and countries such as Japan and South Korea, which move most of their oil through the Bosphorus, had not offered assistance to the conflict.

Last night, former senior British military intelligence officer Philip Ingram said Mr Trump had ‘quite misread the Iranians’.

‘They will not compromise, they will not respond to threats, this is their psychology,’ he said.

Last night Health Secretary Wes Streeting criticized Mr Trump’s ‘provocative, provocative, outrageous’ language.

Israel increases ‘preparedness’ for more war

By Chris Pollard

The Israeli military was placed on a “high state of readiness” yesterday to prepare for further conflict with Iran as it continues to hit Lebanon with missiles.

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) chief Eyal Zamir said response times would be shortened if more air strikes were needed.

This echoes his remarks following last week’s ceasefire declaration, in which he said Israel remained ‘in a state of war’ and that forces could ‘return to war at any time, very strongly’.

On Wednesday, hours after the ceasefire was agreed, 100 deadly attacks were carried out in Beirut, Lebanon, killing 300 people, including at least 33 children.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, who has made the disarmament of the terrorist group Hezbollah a major priority, described the attack as a ‘massacre’.

Meanwhile, Israel’s bombardments in southern Lebanon, the home of Hezbollah, continue.

The IDF said yesterday that a rocket launcher ‘positioned and ready to launch’ towards Israel was ‘crashed and shattered’.

There is disagreement over whether the ceasefire between the US and Iran extends to Lebanon, but Donald Trump has described Israel’s conflict with Hezbollah as a ‘separate conflict’.

Israel and Lebanon will hold talks in Washington next week.