The American military’s naval blockade of Iran took effect Monday evening, after the deadline set by US President Donald Trump passed at 5 p.m. Israel time.
“We can’t let a country blackmail or extort the world, because that’s what they’re doing,” Trump said of Iran, speaking to reporters outside the Oval Office. He also said “the right people” in the country had reached out to say that they wanted a deal.
He said other countries would help the US in enforcing the blockade, but declined to immediately give specifics, saying details would probably be shared on Tuesday.
The president repeated his argument that safeguarding the strait is of greater concern to other parts of the globe than it is to the United States.
“We don’t use this strait,” Trump said. “We have our own oil and gas, much more than we need.”
“Many ships are heading to our country right now as we speak to load up with the best,” he added, referring to American oil. “They’re coming to our country right now.”
The effective closure of the strait does impact global oil prices, however, which has led to surging gas prices for American motorists and rising inflation on other goods.
Later, asked whether he expected oil tankers in general would be able to transit the strait, Trump said: “Yeah, I think they’re going to be doing very well there, and I think they’re doing very well here.”
Asked what the sticking point was in negotiations with Iran in Islamabad over the weekend that failed to end hostilities, Trump said: “It’s over the fact that they will never have a nuclear weapon.”
“Iran will not have a nuclear weapon. And we agreed to a lot of things, but they didn’t agree to that. And I think they will agree to it. I’m almost sure of it. In fact, I am sure of it. If they don’t agree, there’s no deal. There’ll never be a deal,” he said.
“And we’re going to get the dust back,” Trump vowed, referring to the 60 percent enriched uranium that remains in Iran’s possession after strikes on its nuclear facilities in the June 2025 war.
The material, a short step away from being enriched to weapons-grade, is estimated to be enough for 11 nuclear bombs.
The president told reporters: “We’ve been called this morning by the right people, the appropriate people, and they want to work a deal.”
Asked whether his threat, issued on the eve of the ceasefire, that a “whole civilization will die” if the Islamic Republic does not cooperate with US demands, still stands, Trump responded: “I don’t want to comment on that, but it won’t be pleasant for them. Let me put it that way.”
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said Monday evening that it had been informed that “maritime access restrictions [were] being enforced, affecting Iranian ports and coastal areas, including locations along the Arabian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, and the Arabian Sea east of the Strait of Hormuz.”
The notice to UKMTO said that transit through the strait “to or from non-Iranian destinations is not reported to be impeded by these measures,” but it added that ships “may encounter military presence” in the strait.
On Sunday, the US Central Command said its forces would “begin implementing a blockade of all maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports,” saying the blockade would “be enforced impartially against vessels of all nations entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas.”
Trump says US will sink Iranian ships that try to cross strait
On social media Monday, Trump threatened to destroy Iranian ships that tried to cross the strait, first claiming in a Truth Social post that Iran’s navy had been “obliterated” before noting that the US had not hit Tehran’s “fast attack ships” because it did not deem them a threat.
“Warning: If any of these ships come anywhere close to our BLOCKADE, they will be immediately ELIMINATED, using the same system of kill that we use against the drug dealers on boats at sea,” he wrote.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei, meanwhile, derided the blockade as a “revenge of choice” against the global economy.
“Is it ever worthwhile to cut off one’s nose to spite one’s face?!” he wrote on the social platform X.
Can an illegal “war of choice” be won through a “revenge of choice” against the global economy?!
Is it ever worthwhile to cut off one’s nose to spite one’s face?!
— Esmaeil Baqaei (@IRIMFA_SPOX) April 13, 2026
Tehran had earlier called Trump’s threat to block the strait “more bluffing than reality,” and warned the Islamic Republic was prepared to respond if the situation were to escalate militarily.
“It will make the current situation (Trump) is in more complicated and will further agitate the market he is angry about, and we may also reveal other cards that we have not used in the game,” Ebrahim Rezaei, a spokesperson for the Iranian parliament’s National Security Commission, said in a post on X.
The US and Israel launched a campaign against Iran on February 28 to degrade the regime’s military capabilities, distance threats posed by Iran — including its nuclear and ballistic missile programs — and “create the conditions” for the Iranian people to topple the regime, the military and other Israeli leaders have said.
Fighting stopped last week, when the US and Iran reached a two-week ceasefire, which Israel said it would also comply with. Jerusalem was not represented at talks held in Pakistan over the weekend that aimed to resolve the conflict, but failed to reach a deal.
Agencies contributed to this report.
