Middle East
Trump says Navy will blockade Hormuz after Iran talks fail
Stars and Stripes
April 11, 2026
The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Frank E. Petersen Jr. sails in the Arabian Sea during Operation Epic Fury, March 18, 2026. U.S. Central Command said two destroyers, including the Frank E. Petersen Jr., were part of a mine-clearing operation in the Strait of Hormuz that began on Saturday, April 11, 2026. (U.S. Navy)
The United States is preparing to impose a naval blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, President Donald Trump announced Sunday, sharply escalating the conflict with Iran after talks between the two sides failed to produce a deal.
“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 said in a post on Truth Social.
“I have also instructed our Navy to seek and interdict every vessel in International Waters that has paid a toll to Iran. No one who pays an illegal toll will have safe passage on the high seas,” he added. “Any Iranian who fires at us, or at peaceful vessels, will be BLOWN TO HELL!”
In a subsequent interview on Fox News Channel, Trump said the U.S. has deployed “highly sophisticated underwater minesweepers” and is also sending “more traditional minesweepers.”
“I understand the U.K. and a couple of other countries are sending minesweepers,” he said, adding that “a lot” of U.S. ships would be brought up as part of an effort he described as an “all or none” approach.
“We’re not going to let Iran make money selling oil to people they like and not people they don’t like or whatever it is,” Trump said.
It was not immediately clear how any U.S. blockade would be enforced, raising risks of further escalation.
U.S. lawmakers expressed mixed reactions to the announcement during Sunday morning news programs.
“I don’t understand how blockading the strait is going to somehow push the Iranians into opening it — I don’t get the connection there,” Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., meanwhile, described what he called a “very difficult situation.”
“I hope President Trump is successful in this. Because just imagine the world if the ayatollahs, the brutal Iranian regime, is no longer in power. That’s what we’re trying to achieve,” Johnson said on ABC’s “This Week.”
The announcement came after the United States and Iran failed to reach a peace deal following 21 hours of talks, suggesting a return to major violence was possible in the more than month-long war.
At a brief press conference in Islamabad, Vice President JD Vance said Iran had for now rejected “our final and best offer,” while insisting the discussions were substantive and that the U.S. was “quite flexible and accommodating.”
Iranian state media said the talks broke down over the U.S. negotiators’ “excessive demands,” including issues related to control of the Strait of Hormuz and the removal of nuclear materials from Iran.
U.S. negotiators “failed to gain the trust of the Iranian delegation during this round of talks,” said Iranian parliamentary speaker and lead negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf in a statement on X.
The trilateral talks, hosted by Pakistan, represented the highest level face-to-face interaction in decades between the two sides. They aimed to stabilize a fragile ceasefire that took hold last week after a month of fighting that shook the region with violence, rattled global markets and sent oil costs soaring.
Trump, in a separate post Sunday, said the talks had lasted nearly 20 hours and blamed their failure on Iran’s refusal to make enough concessions on its nuclear program, writing: “IRAN IS UNWILLING TO GIVE UP ITS NUCLEAR AMBITIONS!”
Even as talks were underway, the U.S. military had already begun operations tied to the strait.
Two guided-missile destroyers, the USS Frank E. Peterson and USS Michael Murphy, transited the strait and operated in the Arabian Gulf as part of a mine-clearance effort, U.S. Central Command said in a statement Saturday. The mission marked the first time U.S. warships have transited the strait since the U.S.-Israeli offensive began, according to USNI News.
“Today, we began the process of establishing a new passage and we will share this safe pathway with the maritime industry soon to encourage the free flow of commerce,” said Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Central Command.
The operation is aimed at ensuring the strait “is fully clear of sea mines previously laid by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps,” the statement said. Additional U.S. forces, including underwater drones, will join the clearance effort in the coming days, it added.
U.S. Central Command did not immediately respond Sunday to Stars and Stripes’ request for further information about the Hormuz mission.
Earlier, an Iranian military spokesperson “strongly denied” that U.S. vessels were approaching and entering the strait, insisting the Iranian military has “the upper-hand over the passage of any vessel” through the area, state media reported.
Last week, Iranian authorities released a map showing two safe routes through which ships could follow to avoid mines in the strait. It appeared to be the first time that Iran had confirmed the presence of mines.
No ship is reported to have struck a mine during the conflict, which began Feb. 28. However, maritime traffic remains at a trickle, even after the ceasefire.
Trump has alternated between suggesting the conflict was nearing completion and that it could be significantly escalated, possibly with the use of U.S. forces who continue to head to the region.
“I predict they come back and they give us everything we want,” Trump said in his Sunday Fox News interview. “And I tell my people, I want everything. I don’t want 90%, I don’t want 95%. I told them I want everything.”