The Albany Gazette - US to begin blockade of Iranian ports Monday: military

The announcement came despite a ceasefire agreed on Wednesday aimed at pausing the six-week war until April 22, with tensions centered on whether the United States can force Iran to reopen the strategic Strait of Hormuz, another of its key demands in the stalled negotiations.

"The blockade will be enforced impartially against vessels of all nations entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas, including all Iranian ports on the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman," US Central Command said in a statement, adding that it would begin at 1400 GMT on Monday.

The statement said US forces would not impede vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz to and from non-Iranian ports, and that further instructions for mariners would be forthcoming.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards had earlier warned they had full control of traffic through Hormuz and would trap any challenger "in a deadly vortex."

In a lengthy social media post, US president Donald Trump said his goal was to clear the strait of mines and reopen it to all shipping, but that Iran must not be allowed to profit from controlling 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," 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 Tehran's delegation in Pakistan, said on returning home that the country would "not bow to any threats" from Washington, while navy chief Shahram Irani called Trump's blockade threat "ridiculous."

Tehran has already been restricting traffic through the strait -- a key route for global oil and gas shipments -- while allowing some vessels serving friendly countries such as China to pass. There have been unconfirmed reports it plans to charge tolls.

"THIS IS WORLD EXTORTION," 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."

The US military said Saturday that two Navy warships had transited through the strait to begin clearing it of mines and ensure it was a "safe pathway" for tankers, a claim Tehran denied.

Iran's Fars news agency reported Sunday that two Pakistani-flagged oil tankers bound for the strait had turned back.

The collapse of the talks rattled an already tense region and raised fears of renewed fighting.

- 'Final and best offer' -

In a later Fox News interview, Trump again threatened Iran's energy infrastructure and warned he would impose a 50 percent tariff on Chinese imports if Beijing tried to help Iran's military.

"I could take out Iran in one day. I could have their entire energy everything, every one of their plants, their electric generating plants," he said.

The US blockade appeared to be triggered by the failure of talks in Islamabad on ending the war.

The US delegation -- led by Vice President JD Vance, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner -- was frustrated by Iran's refusal to give up what it called its right to a nuclear program.

"I have always said, right from the beginning, and many years ago, IRAN WILL NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON!" Trump said.

After the talks -- the highest-level meeting between the sides since the 1979 Islamic Revolution -- Vance said Washington had made Tehran its "final and best offer," adding: "We'll see if the Iranians accept it."

Ghalibaf said he had "put forward constructive initiatives" but the US side had failed to win Iran's trust.

Iranian lawmaker Mahmoud Nabavian, who also attended the talks, said on X the excessive US demands included "a joint share with Iran in the benefits of the Strait of Hormuz" as well as the removal of the country's 60-percent enriched uranium.

Nicole Grajewski, an assistant professor at Sciences Po's Center for International Research, said a US blockade was "not a minor coercive signal" but would rather be considered an effective resumption of the war.

- Truce under strain -

The failure of the talks will raise fears that renewed fighting could drive energy prices higher and further damage shipping and oil and gas facilities.

Pakistan urged both sides to keep observing the temporary truce.

But concern has grown that the ceasefire could collapse, in part because of continued Israeli strikes in Lebanon, where Iran insists the truce also applies.

Lebanese and Israeli officials are due to hold talks in Washington on Tuesday.

In a video posted Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited troops in southern Lebanon and said the threat of a Hezbollah invasion of northern Israel had been removed, but that the "war continues, including within the security zone in Lebanon."

Tamara, an 18-year-old cashier in Beirut, said focus should remain on Lebanon, where Israeli strikes killed more than 350 people on Wednesday.

"We can't say the war has stopped because there are talks," she said.

"We mustn't forget the massacre that happened."

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(W.Williams--TAG)