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Iran Threatens Ports in Mideast 04/13 06:06
The U.S. military announced it will begin a blockade of all Iranian ports
and coastal areas on Monday, as President Donald Trump sought to pressure Iran
in a move that risks driving oil prices even higher and renewing the war. The
announcement set the stage for a showdown, as Iran immediately responded with
threats on all ports in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.
CAIRO (AP) -- The U.S. military announced it will begin a blockade of all
Iranian ports and coastal areas on Monday, as President Donald Trump sought to
pressure Iran in a move that risks driving oil prices even higher and renewing
the war. The announcement set the stage for a showdown, as Iran immediately
responded with threats on all ports in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.
"Security in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman is either for everyone or
for NO ONE," the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting reported Monday. "NO
PORT in the region will be safe," according to a statement from the Iranian
military and the Revolutionary Guards.
U.S. Central Command announced the blockade would begin on Monday at 10 a.m.
EDT, or 5:30 p.m. in Iran, and would be "enforced impartially against vessels
of all nations entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas, including
all Iranian ports on the Arabian Gulf (Persian Gulf) and Gulf of Oman." CENTCOM
said it would still allow ships traveling between non-Iranian ports to transit
the strait, a step down from the president's earlier threat to blockade the
entire strait.
The announcement of the blockade halted the limited ship traffic that
resumed in the strait since the ceasefire, said an early report from Lloyd's
List intelligence. Marine trackers say over 40 commercial ships have crossed
since the start of the ceasefire, down from roughly 100 to 135 vessel passages
per day before the war.
The move came after marathon U.S.-Iran ceasefire talks in Pakistan ended
without an agreement on Saturday. U.S. Vice President JD Vance said the talks
stalled after Iran refused to accept American terms to refrain from developing
a nuclear weapon. Iran has demanded compensation for damage caused by
U.S.-Israeli strikes that launched the war on Feb. 28, and the release of
Iran's frozen assets.
Later Sunday, Trump extended his feud over the war with Pope Leo XIV,
lashing out in a Truth Social post that called the Catholic leader "terrible on
foreign policy." The extraordinary broadside came after Leo denounced the war
and demanded that political leaders stop and negotiate peace.
The blockade could have far-reaching effects
The blockade is likely intended to add pressure on Iran, which has exported
millions of barrels of oil since the war began, much of it likely carried by
so-called "dark" transits that evade Western government sanctions and oversight.
Trump also hopes to undercut Iran's control over the Strait of Hormuz after
demanding that it reopen the waterway where 20% of global oil transited before
fighting began. A U.S. blockade could further rattle global energy markets.
Oil prices rose in early market trading after the blockade announcement. The
price of U.S. crude rose 8% to $104.24 a barrel, and Brent crude oil, the
international standard, rose 7% to $102.29. Brent crude cost roughly $70 per
barrel before the war in late February.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer told BBC radio Monday that Britain will not be
part of a U.S. blockade of Iranian ports in response to the closing of the
Strait of Hormuz and that Britain is "not getting dragged into the war."
He said U.K. efforts remain focused on reopening the key shipping route, and
that Britain might help with mine clearing in the waterway, but only after the
fighting stops.
Iran says 'if you fight, we will fight'
A chorus of top-ranking Iranian officials threatened retaliation. Mohsen
Rezaei, a military adviser and a former Revolutionary Guard Commander, wrote on
X that the country's armed forces had "major untouched levers" to counter a
Hormuz blockade. He said Iran would not be coerced by "tweets and imaginary
plans."
Iranian parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, who led Iran's side in
the talks, addressed Trump in a statement on his return to Iran: "If you fight,
we will fight."
Iran's Revolutionary Guard later said the strait remained under Iran's "full
control" and was open for non-military vessels, but military ones would get a
"forceful response," two semiofficial Iranian news agencies reported.
During the 21-hour talks this weekend in Pakistan, the U.S. military said
two destroyers had transited the strait ahead of mine-clearing work, a first
since the war began. Iran denied it.
No word on what happens after ceasefire expires
The face-to-face talks that ended early Sunday were the highest-level
negotiations between the longtime rivals since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Trump said Tehran's nuclear ambitions were the core reason for the talks'
failure. In comments to Fox News, he again threatened to strike civilian
infrastructure if it didn't give up its nuclear program.
"In one half of a day they wouldn't have one bridge standing, they wouldn't
have one electric generating plant standing, and they're back in the stone
ages," Trump said.
Vice President JD Vance, who led the U.S. side in the talks, said Washington
would need "an affirmative commitment that they will not seek a nuclear weapon."
Iranian negotiators could not agree to all U.S. "red lines," said a U.S.
official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized
to describe positions on the record. Those red lines included Iran never
obtaining a nuclear weapon, ending uranium enrichment, dismantling major
enrichment facilities and allowing retrieval of its highly enriched uranium,
along with opening the Strait of Hormuz and ending funding for Hamas, Hezbollah
and Houthi rebels.
Iranian officials said talks fell apart over two or three key issues,
blaming what they called U.S. overreach. Qalibaf, who noted progress in
negotiations, said it was time for the United States "to decide whether it can
gain our trust or not."
Iran's foreign minister claimed that the U.S. tanked the negotiations when
they were within "inches" of an agreement, but did not provide evidence.
"We encountered maximalism, shifting goalposts, and blockade," wrote Abbas
Araghchi on X.
Neither Iran nor the U.S. indicated what will happen after the ceasefire
expires on April 22.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said his country will try to facilitate
a new dialogue in the coming days. Iran said it was open to continuing
dialogue, state-run IRNA news agency reported.
Iran's nuclear program is a key sticking point
Iran's nuclear program was at the center of tensions long before the U.S.
and Israel launched the war on Feb. 28. The fighting has killed at least 3,000
people in Iran, 2,055 in Lebanon, 23 in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf
Arab states, and damaged infrastructure in half a dozen countries.
Tehran has long denied seeking nuclear weapons but insists on its right to a
civilian nuclear program. The landmark 2015 nuclear deal, which Trump later
pulled the U.S. out of, took well over a year of negotiations. Experts say
Iran's stockpile of enriched uranium, though not weapons-grade, is only a short
technical step away.
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