Trump Says U.S. Military Has Blockaded Iranian Ports To Pressure Tehran

CAIRO (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday that the American military is blockading Iranian ports as part of an effort to force Tehran to open the Strait of Hormuz. accept a deal with end the war This has been going on for more than six weeks.

Iran responded by targeting US-allied countries with threats against all ports in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.

This set a scene extraordinary reckoning This situation posed serious risks for the global economy and increased concerns that the ceasefire could be broken and the war could start again. Negotiations were held to permanently end the conflict that started with the US and Israel’s attack on Iran on February 28. agreement could not be reached last weekend. There has been no statement yet as to whether the negotiations will continue.

In Washington, US President Donald Trump said the blockade began at 10 a.m. EDT (14:0 GMT).

“We can’t allow one country to extort or blackmail the world because that’s what they do,” Trump said of Iran.

Speaking outside the Oval Office, Trump said the United States was still willing to engage with Iran.

“I can tell you we were called from the other side,” Trump said.

He added: “We were called this morning by the right people, the proper people, and they want to make a deal.”

Trump did not say who called or what was discussed.

Minutes before the planned start of the blockade, the UK Maritime Trade Operations agency issued a notice to seafarers stating that the restrictions covered “the entire Iranian coastline, including ports and energy infrastructure”.

He added that it was reported that passage through the strait to destinations other than Iran was not prevented by these measures, but that ships “may encounter a military presence” in the strait.

Iran is influential closing the throatOil prices have soared, exceeding 20% ​​of oil traded in peacetime, pushing the cost of gasoline, food and other essential goods far beyond the Middle East. Tehran allowed passage of some ships perceived as friendly to charge substantial feesleading to accusations that it is holding the global economy hostage.

Some analysts are skeptical that the United States can resume normal shipping by force alone, and it is not clear how the blockade would work or what the dangers might be to U.S. forces.

The question is who can bear the most pain: Could a blockade make Iran’s economic situation untenable and force it to make concessions? Or will it raise global oil and other prices so high that Trump is forced to back down?

The US military’s Central Command announced that the blockade would be enforced “against ships of all nations entering or exiting Iranian ports and coastal areas.” It was stated that this agreement will cover all of Iran’s ports in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.

CENTCOM’s decision to allow ships traveling between ports outside Iran to pass through the strait was a step short of Trump’s earlier threat to blockade the waterway.

In a message posted on social media shortly after the blockade began, Trump said Iran’s navy was “lying on the bottom of the sea, completely destroyed,” but added that Tehran still had “fast attack ships” and warned that “if any of these ships come close to our blockade, they will be eliminated immediately.”

Iran also made its own threats.

“Security in the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea is either for everyone or for NO ONE,” the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting said on Monday. In the statement made by the Iranian army and Revolutionary Guards, it was said: “No port in the region will be safe.”

According to a report by Lloyd’s List Intelligence, the threats halted the limited ship traffic that had resumed in the strait since the ceasefire. Maritime trackers say more than 40 merchant ships have transited since the ceasefire began last week, down from about 100 a day before the war to 135.

The purpose of the blockade is probably to put pressure on Iran. was exported There have been millions of barrels of oil since the beginning of the war, much of it likely transported via so-called dark passes that evade Western sanctions and surveillance.

But its effects will be felt far beyond Iran. The price of Brent crude oil, the international standard, rose 7 percent on Monday to around $102 per barrel. Before the war it was about $70 per barrel.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he would hold a summit this week with French President Emmanuel Macron “to advance the international effort” to end the conflict and unblock the strait.

Macron said at X that the conference would bring together countries prepared to contribute to the “peaceful multinational mission aimed at restoring freedom of navigation in the strait.” He emphasized that the mission would be “strictly defensive” and “separate from the warring parties to the conflict.”

Senior Iranian officials have threatened retaliation.

Ibrahim Rezaei, spokesman for Iran’s parliament’s National Security Commission, dismissed US warnings of a possible blockade as “more bluff than reality” and warned that Tehran was ready to respond if the situation escalated militarily.

“This (Trump) will make the current situation more complicated and the market he is angry about more turbulent. We may also reveal other cards that we do not use in the game,” he said in a post on X.

Addressing Trump, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammed Bagher Qalibaf said, “If you fight, we will fight too.”

Blockade threat came after the marathon US-Iran ceasefire talks It ended without an agreement in Pakistan on Saturday.

US Vice President J.D. Vance said talks stalled after Iran refused to accept American conditions to refrain from developing nuclear weapons.

Iran insisted nuclear program It is peaceful. However, it continued to move forward with steps that could give it the ability to make nuclear weapons, including enriching uranium to near weapons level and developing long-range missiles potentially capable of launching bombs.

Tehran’s main sticking points are its nuclear program, war reparations and sanctions relief, Iran’s Ambassador to India Mohammad Fathali said.

Neither Iran nor the United States has specified what will happen after the ceasefire ends on April 22. The conflict has killed at least 3,000 people in Iran, 2,089 in Lebanon, 23 in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states, and damaged infrastructure in half a dozen countries.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said his country would try to facilitate a new dialogue in the coming days.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, whose country supports mediation efforts, suggested that the ceasefire could be extended for 45 to 60 days to enable further negotiations.

Corder reported from The Hague, Netherlands, and Frankel from New York. Associated Press writers Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel; Collin Binkley and Ben Finley in Washington; Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut; Sheikh Saalik in New Delhi; Jill Lawless in London; and Ghaya Ben MBarek in Tunisia, Tunisia, contributed to this report.