US President Donald Trump on Sunday announced a “blockade” of the Strait of Hormuz following the failure of Islamabad talks allegedly over Iran’s “refusal to give up its nuclear ambitions.”
In lengthy social media notes, Trump accused Iran of not keeping its promise to open the Hormuz Strait, saying they knowingly failed to do so.
“This caused anxiety, dislocation, and pain to many people and Countries throughout the World,” the US President said.
The US President said that the meeting between the US and Iran in Islamabad went well and most points were agreed to, but the only point that really mattered, NUCLEAR, was not.
The blockade, Trump said, will be effective immediately and apply to “any and all ships trying to enter or leave the Strait of Hormuz”.
He further asserted that an agreement on free passage through the chokepoint waterway will be reached at some point but Iran has not allowed that to happen.
“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,” Trump said, describing the Iranian move ” WORLD EXTORTION.”
“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,” he said.
Trump also said that the US Navy will soon begin destroying the mines laid by Iran in the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway that handles around one fifth of the global energy supplies.
“Any Iranian who fires at us, or at peaceful vessels, will be BLOWN TO HELL!” he warned.
Trump added the blockade will begin shortly and that other countries will also be involved. He, however, did not name which other countries will be involved.
“Iran will not be allowed to profit off this Illegal Act of EXTORTION,” he said, reiterating that the US will never allow Iran to have nuclear weapons.
The development comes a day after Iranian cruise missiles locked onto US warships as they attempted to sail through the Strait of Hormuz.
According to the U.S. military’s Central Command (CENTCOM), two guided-missile destroyers, the USS Frank E. Peterson and the USS Michael Murphy “transited the Strait of Hormuz and operated in the Arabian Gulf” on Saturday.
However, Iranian state media citing highly placed military-security sources claimed that both the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers were “intercepted and forced to retreat by Iranian naval forces.”