Donald Trump Says US Navy Will 'Blockade' Strait Of Hormuz After Iran Talks Collapse
Donald Trump Says US Navy Will 'Blockade' Strait Of Hormuz After Iran Talks Collapse
The US president said Tehran has refused to give up its nuclear ambitions.
The US navy is to blockade the Strait of Hormuz to all ships after talks to end the Iran war collapsed, Donald Trump has announced.
In a post on Truth Social, the US president accused Tehran of “extortion” for charging tolls for oil tankers to use the vital waterway.
Any ships which have paid money to Iran in order to safely sail through the strait will also be hunted down, Trump said.
His comments came after his vice-president JD Vance said that talks between US and Iranian officials in Pakistan had broken down without a peace deal being agreed.
Trump insisted the talks “went well”, but had broken down over Tehran’s refusal to give up its ambitions to build a nuclear bomb.
He said: “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.
“At some point, we will reach an “ALL BEING ALLOWED TO GO IN, ALL BEING ALLOWED TO GO OUT” basis, but Iran has not allowed that to happen by merely saying, “There may be a mine out there somewhere,” that nobody knows about but them.
“THIS IS WORLD EXTORTION, and Leaders of Countries, especially the United States of America, will never be extorted. 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.”
Trump said the US navy will destroy any mines which have been laid in the strait, and warned that “any Iranian who fires at us, or at peaceful vessels, will be BLOWN TO HELL”.
“As they promised, they better begin the process of getting this INTERNATIONAL WATERWAY OPEN AND FAST,” he added.
In a separate post, he went on: “Iran will not be allowed to profit off this Illegal Act of EXTORTION. They want money and, more importantly, they want Nuclear.
“Additionally and, at an appropriate moment, we are fully “LOCKED AND LOADED,” and our Military will finish up the little that is left of Iran!”
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