US President Donald Trump said that the US Navy is beginning a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz because negotiations with Iran failed to reach an agreement on giving up nuclear weapons.
Donald Trump announced this on his social network Truth Social.
Trump said the US Navy would intercept all ships that paid Iran's toll to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.
“The US Navy will begin the process of blocking any ships attempting to enter or exit the Strait of Hormuz. No one paying illegal tolls will have safe passage on the high seas. We will also begin destroying mines placed by the Iranians in the straits,” Trump said.
He also warned Iran that if the Iranian military began attacking American warships, the US Navy would “send the Iranians to hell.”
Trump also said that Iran was “breaking the law” by blocking the Strait of Hormuz and “will never have a nuclear weapon.”
In an interview with Fox News, Trump said that the United Kingdom and “several other countries” are helping to clear mines in the Strait of Hormuz.
“The UK and several other countries are sending minesweepers. A lot of countries don't have minesweepers. Just think. They had 28 minelayers. What country has 28 minelayers? 28 minelaying boats,” Trump said.
Peace talks between the United States and Iran were held in Pakistan on April 11. US Vice President J.D. Vance said that the countries' representatives “did not agree to end the war.”
“The negotiations lasted 21 hours, and we had a number of meaningful conversations with the Iranians. That is good news. But the bad news is that we did not reach an agreement. And I think that is much worse news for Iran than for the United States. So we are going back to the United States without an agreement,” he said.
Vance noted that the main obstacle was Iran's refusal to give up its nuclear program — Iran has not committed to giving up nuclear weapons.
“The question is, do we see a fundamental commitment from the Iranians not to develop nuclear weapons, not just now, not just in two years, but in the long term?” We haven't seen that yet, but we hope we will,” he said.