Trump says US will blockade strait of Hormuz after Iran peace talks fail | First Thing

Tehran said the move would be a breach of the ceasefire. Plus, Viktor Orbán ousted in Hungarian election in blow to global far right

Good morning.

Donald Trump has said the US will begin blockading the strait of Hormuz in an attempt to wrest control of the vital waterway from Iran after peace negotiations between the countries failed.

When would the blockade start? US Central Command (Centcom) announced the blockade would begin on Monday at 10am ET. Experts have said it could risk further increasing oil prices.

Which vessels will the blockade affect? Centcom said it would be confined to ships transiting through Iranian ports – and that it would permit passage of ships headed to ports belonging to the US’s Gulf allies.

How could a blockade help the US reopen the strait? The strategy appears to be that the US hopes to eliminates Tehran’s greatest point of leverage – its chokehold of the strait – by stopping Iranian oil exports. Tehran has indicated that it would like to keep control of the strait after the war has ended, and to charge fees to ships.