(AFP) – President Donald Trump on Sunday ordered a US naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz in the wake of failed peace talks with Iran — a significant escalation that would test an already fragile ceasefire. In lengthy social media posts and an interview on Fox News, Trump acknowledged that the marathon negotiations in Islamabad had gone “well” and “most points were agreed to.” But he said Tehran had been “unyielding” in its refusal to give up its nuclear ambitions and had failed to open the strait, through which a fifth of the world’s crude oil passes — a condition of the two-week ceasefire currently in place.
He threatened China with a massive 50 percent tariff on its goods entering the United States if it decides to help Tehran militarily. “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,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform. “Any Iranian who fires at us, or at peaceful vessels, will be BLOWN TO HELL!” Trump initially suggested that “other countries” would be involved in the blockade effort and then told Fox’s “Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo” that Britain “and a couple of other countries” would be sending minesweepers.
US Vice President JD Vance left Pakistan without a deal after weekend talks with a team led by Iran’s parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf — the highest-level meeting between the two sides since the 1979 Islamic revolution. The talks were meant to solidify a fragile two-week ceasefire with a final deal to end the conflict that has engulfed the Middle East, leaving thousands dead and roiling global markets. But no conclusions were reached.
“We leave here with a very simple proposal, a method of understanding that is our final and best offer. We’ll see if the Iranians accept it,” Vance told reporters. Trump said he had been fully debriefed by the US negotiating team of Vance, special envoy Steve Witkoff, and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law. The US leader slammed Iran for “knowingly” failing to deliver on a pledge to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, writing: “As they promised, they better begin the process of getting this INTERNATIONAL WATERWAY OPEN AND FAST!”
Iran has effectively blocked the strait for weeks since the United States and Israel launched a bombing campaign against the Islamic Republic more than six weeks ago. On Saturday, the US military announced that two of its warships had transited the strait at the start of a mine clearance operation. Trump on Sunday warned China that it would face a high price if it were to help Tehran militarily at this phase of the war. “If we catch them doing that, they get a 50 percent tariff, which is a staggering — that’s a staggering amount,” Trump told Bartiromo.
He also reiterated a threat to destroy Iranian power plants and other civilian energy infrastructure if no lasting deal is reached and warned that US forces would “finish up the little that is left of Iran” if necessary. “We are fully ‘LOCKED AND LOADED,'” he wrote.
© 2024 AFP
