WASHINGTION DC: US President Donald Trump has announced that the United States will deploy its navy to enforce a blockade around Iranian ports, escalating tensions after lengthy negotiations with Iran failed to produce an agreement to end the war and secure a fragile ceasefire.
The US Central Command said the blockade would begin at 10 a.m. ET (1400 GMT) on Monday, targeting all maritime traffic entering or leaving Iranian ports. The measure will apply to vessels of all countries operating in Iranian coastal areas, including ports along the Arabian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.
However, US forces stated they would not disrupt ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz to and from non-Iranian ports. Commercial shipping operators will receive formal guidance ahead of the enforcement, Reuters reported.
Trump also warned that the US would act against any vessel in international waters that pays fees to Iran, and said American forces would begin clearing sea mines allegedly placed by Tehran in the strait—a critical route for roughly 20% of global energy supplies.
In response, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps cautioned that any foreign military presence near the strait would be treated as a violation of the ceasefire and would face a strong and decisive reaction, raising fears of further escalation.
Iranian parliamentary speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, who led Tehran’s delegation alongside Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, dismissed the US threats, saying Iran would respond firmly to aggression but remain open to dialogue based on reason.
The Islamabad talks, held after a ceasefire announcement earlier in the week, marked the first direct engagement between the US and Iran in over a decade and the most senior-level discussions since the Iranian Revolution.
(Inputs from Reuters)
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