Washington: US President Donald Trump on Sunday announced that the US Navy would immediately begin a blockade on ships from entering or leaving the Strait of Hormuz, hours after the peace talks with Tehran failed on the issue of nuclear weapons.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he has directed the US 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,” the US President said, claiming that other countries will be involved in this blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial narrow waterway used to transport a fifth of the global oil supplies.
“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,” Trump said.
The US President said he was briefed by Vice President J D Vance, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner on the talks with Iranian leaders in Islamabad.
“So, there you have it, the meeting went well, most points were agreed to, but the only point that really mattered, NUCLEAR, was not,” Trump said.
The US President acknowledged the role played by Pakistan’s Field Marshal Asim Munir and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in hosting the talks in Islamabad.
“They are very extraordinary men, and continuously thank me for saving 30 to 50 million lives in what would have been a horrendous War with India. I always appreciate hearing that — The amount of Humanity spoken of is incomprehensible,” Trump said.
The US President said the points agreed to with the Iranian leadership were better than continuing military operations to conclusion.
“…but all of those points don’t matter compared to allowing Nuclear Power to be in the hands of such volatile, difficult, unpredictable people,” Trump said.
He said the three US representatives became very friendly and respectful of Iran’s Representatives – Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Abbas Araghchi, and Ali Bagheri.
“… but that doesn’t matter because they were very unyielding as to the single most important issue and, as I have always said, right from the beginning, and many years ago, IRAN WILL NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON,” Trump said.
Since the US and Israel launched the war on Feb 28, it has killed at least 3,000 people in Iran, 2,020 in Lebanon, 23 in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states, and caused lasting damage to infrastructure in half a dozen Middle Eastern countries.
Iran’s grip on the Strait of Hormuz has largely cut off the Persian Gulf and its oil and gas exports from the global economy, sending energy prices soaring.(PTI)
