The United States’ blockade of Iranian ports has begun, though the two countries may still be open to talks after Friday’s negotiations ended without a deal.
The blockade, which started at 10 am EDT (8 am AEST), is a bid to push Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and reopen negotiations, U.S. President Donald Trump has claimed.
Trump has claimed that the U.S. will destroy Iranian fast attack ships that approach the blockade. “Warning: If any of these ships come anywhere close to our BLOCKADE, they will be immediately ELIMINATED,” he wrote on Truth Social.
U.S. Central Command has not confirmed this, however. Trump threatened yesterday that any international vessel paying tolls to Iran to transit the strait would be interdicted as part of the blockade, which CENTCOM has not commented on.
While Trump had also previously said that other nations would support the blockade, no other country has publicly said it will do so. United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese have said their countries are not involved with the blockade.
France and the UK have said they will co-host a conference to restore freedom of navigation in the strait, but have said this would be a peaceful defensive mission separate from the military blockade.
Iran and the U.S. neared a memorandum of understanding over the weekend during talks in Pakistan, Reuters reported. The U.S. abandoned the talks after the countries could not agree on issues including Iran’s nuclear program, the Strait of Hormuz, and unfreezing Iranian assets.
According to Reuters, 11 sources said dialogue between the two countries still continued.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance, who led the U.S. delegation, said when exiting the talks that the U.S. had offered Iran a final proposal for a deal.
"We leave here with a very simple proposal, a method of understanding that is our final and best offer," he said, without indicating details. "We'll see if the Iranians accept it."
