WASHINGTON/DUBAI – The U.S. military said it will begin a blockade of ships leaving Iran’s ports on Monday, and Tehran threatened to retaliate against ports of its Gulf neighbours, after weekend talks failed to reach a deal to end the war, leaving a ceasefire in jeopardy.
Oil prices surged when trade reopened on Monday, with no sign of a swift reopening of the Strait of Hormuz to ease the worst ever disruption in supplies.
Since the war started, Iran has effectively shut the strait to all vessels except its own, saying ships would only be allowed through under Iranian control and subject to a fee. U.S. President Donald Trump said he would now block Iran’s ships too, and any vessels that paid Iran a toll.
The ceasefire that halted six weeks of U.S. and Israeli airstrikes is under threat, with only a week left to run, after Washington said Tehran had rejected its demands at talks in Islamabad, the highest-level discussions since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The U.S. military’s regional Central Command said the blockade would start at 10 a.m. ET (1400 GMT) on Monday, “enforced impartially against vessels of all nations entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas, including all Iranian ports on the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman”.
Two Iranian-linked tankers, the Aurora and New Future, laden with oil products and diesel, left the strait on Monday shortly before the U.S. blockade was due to take effect, according to data from provider LSEG.
An Iranian military spokesperson, quoted by state media, said any U.S. restrictions on vessels in international waters would be illegal and amount to “piracy”. If Iranian ports were threatened, no port in the Gulf or Gulf of Oman would remain secure, the spokesperson said.
Earlier, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said any military vessels approaching the strait would be considered to have violated the ceasefire.
On Sunday, Trump had posted on social media: “No one who pays an illegal toll will have safe passage on the high seas,” adding, “Any Iranian who fires at us, or at peaceful vessels, will be BLOWN TO HELL!”
“Trump wants a quick fix,” said Dana Stroul, a former senior Pentagon official during the Biden administration now at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “The reality is, this mission is difficult to execute alone and likely unsustainable over the medium to long term.”
