President Donald Trump on Sunday said the U.S. Navy would immediately start blockading the Strait of Hormuz and would also interdict every vessel in international waters that had paid a toll to Iran.
Trump made his remarks in a Truth Social post hours after U.S-.Iran peace talks ended without a deal. Trump said the meeting “went well, most points were agreed,” but added the two sides had not agreed on Iran’s nuclear program.
“Effective immediately, the United States Navy, the Finest in the World, will begin the process of BLOCKADING any and all Ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz,” said Trump, who is strongly opposed to the idea of Iran charging ships a toll to pass through the strait.
“I have also instructed our Navy to seek and interdict every vessel in International Waters that has paid a toll to Iran. No one who pays an illegal toll will have safe passage on the high seas,” he said.
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Earlier, US Vice President JD Vance said on Sunday that his negotiating team was leaving Pakistan after not reaching a deal with Iran following 21 hours of Islamabad Talks, jeopardizing a fragile two-week ceasefire.
“The bad news is that we have not reached an agreement, and I think that’s bad news for Iran much more than it’s bad news for the United States of America,” Vance told reporters after the talks ended. “So we go back to the United States having not come to an agreement. We’ve made very clear what our red lines are.”
Vance cited shortcomings in the talks and said Iran had chosen not to accept American terms, including to not build nuclear weapons. A short time later, Vance waved goodbye from the top of the stairs as he boarded Air Force Two in Islamabad.
“We need to see an affirmative commitment that they will not seek a nuclear weapon, and they will not seek the tools that would enable them to quickly achieve a nuclear weapon. That is the core goal of the president of the United States, and that’s what we’ve tried to achieve through these negotiations.”
Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency said that “excessive” US demands had hindered reaching an agreement and that negotiations had ended. Before Vance spoke, Iran’s government in a post on X had said negotiations would continue and technical experts from both sides would exchange documents.
