President Trump has ordered a U.S. naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, preventing any ships from entering or leaving until Iran reopens the waterway. This move follows the collapse of peace talks with Iran and escalates tensions in the region.
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump ordered the US Navy on April 12 to block the crucial Strait of Hormuz shipping lane, furious with Iran’s refusal to surrender its nuclear ambitions after peace talks in Pakistan broke down without an agreement.
In response to Mr Trump’s announcement, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards warned they had traffic in the strategic waterway under their full control and would trap any enemy who tried to challenge it “in a deadly vortex”.
In a lengthy declaration on his social media platform, Mr Trump said his eventual goal was to clear the strait of mines and reopen it to all shipping, but that in the meantime Iran must not be allowed to profit from its control of the waterway.
“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,” Mr Trump said. “Any Iranian who fires at us, or at peaceful vessels, will be BLOWN TO HELL!”.
Iran’s Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who led the Iranian delegation in Pakistan, said upon arriving back in Tehran that the country would “not bow to any threats” from Washington.
Tehran has itself been restricting traffic through the strait – a key route for global shipments of oil, gas and fertiliser – while allowing vessels deemed to be working for friendly countries, such as China, to pass. There have been unconfirmed reports that Tehran plans to charge tolls.
“THIS IS WORLD EXTORTION,” Mr Trump said. “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. We will also begin destroying the mines the Iranians laid in the Straits.”
Straitstimes.com
