Shortly after the failure of negotiations between Iran and the United States, Donald Trump ordered an American naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday. This was in response to Iran’s “intransigent” refusal to abandon its nuclear ambitions during peace talks held from Saturday to Sunday morning in Islamabad, Pakistan.
The discussions lasted over 20 hours, but both sides failed to reach an agreement to end the war in the Middle East, which was triggered on February 28 by an Israeli-American offensive on Iran, casting doubt on the ongoing two-week ceasefire.
JD Vance, the American vice president, who was present on site, returned to the United States on Sunday morning after making what he claimed was a “final and best possible offer” to Iran. The President of the Iranian Parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, leading the Iranian delegation, criticized the United States as “incapable” of gaining Iran’s trust during the discussions.
Other countries involved in the blockade effort
On Sunday, the American president spoke for the first time on Truth Social. While acknowledging that the talks in Pakistan were “going well” and that “most of the points had been agreed upon,” Donald Trump stated that Tehran had refused to compromise on the nuclear issue.
The United States will begin a “process of BLOCKING all ships attempting to enter or leave the Strait of Hormuz” through which a portion of the world’s oil, gas, and fertilizers transit, wrote the White House occupant.
In two lengthy messages, the American president warned: “Any Iranian who shoots at us, or at peaceful ships, will be DESTROYED!”, implying that “other countries” would be involved, without naming them.
Later on Fox News, he specified that Britain “and a few other countries” would be sending mine-clearing ships to the strait. Britain has not announced any deployment of warships in the region, but reportedly considered sending mine-clearing drones.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guards, the ideological army of the Islamic Republic, responded on X by claiming to have “completely under control” the traffic in the strait and threatening to trap their enemies in a “deadly whirlwind.”
