Trump announces naval blockade of Iran after Islamabad talks yield no deal

Washington Post-April12th2026

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Shaiq Hussain

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — After marathon overnight talks between the United States and Iran failed to yield a deal on U.S. terms, President Donald Trump on Sunday announced the imposition of a naval blockade on Iran — a move that could derail a tenuous two-week ceasefire reached just five days ago.

“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 posted Sunday on Truth Social, his social media site. The president also said he had instructed the Navy to interdict all ships that have paid a toll to Iran for traversing the strait, calling Tehran’s expanded control of the waterway “EXTORTION.”

A U.S. official told The Washington Post that the U.S. and Iran failed to reach agreements on several U.S. demands, including that Iran end all uranium enrichment and allow the U.S. to retrieve its highly enriched uranium; the dismantling of all major nuclear enrichment facilities; accepting a broader de-escalation framework involving regional powers; ending funding for terrorist proxies including Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis; and fully reopening the Strait of Hormuz with no tolls for passage. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the private negotiations.

In an interview Sunday morning with Fox News, Trump said he expected “numerous” countries to help with the blockade, which he compared to the U.S. operation to block the flow of oil ships out of Venezuela earlier this year, saying it would be “very similar to that but at a higher level.”

The blockade in the short term, at least, might risk worsening a war-driven global energy crisis by halting all cargo traffic through the strait, and Trump acknowledged that price of oil and gas may continue to increase in the U.S. for some time. While Iran would potentially suffer the most economically, the move may come as a blow to the rest of the world as well, especially nations in Asia, which rely heavily on oil and gas, petrochemicals, and other essentials shipped from the Persian Gulf.

The tight geography could also make naval operations in the Gulf perilous. U.S. ships could be vulnerable to attacks by small craft, as well as drones and missiles. Trump in his post said other countries would be involved in imposing the blockade but offered no specifics.

Despite failing to reach a deal, Trump expressed optimism that one would still be struck with Iran and reiterated Vice President JD Vance’s earlier remarks that the main sticking point was disagreement over Iran’s nuclear program.

“It was a good meeting yesterday, really, a good meeting, except for one problem — and it’s 95 percent,” Trump told Fox. “They want to have nuclear weapons. It’s not going to happen.”

Asked whether he would “further destruct Iran” if the nation does not give up its nuclear program, Trump said, “Yeah, I will,” saying that strikes on electricity plants, missile production facilities, bridges and even desalinization plants were possible, though on the latter possibility he said he would “hate” to target the country’s water.