The President of the United States, Donald Trump, announced this Sunday that his country will take control of the Strait of Hormuz “with immediate effect” after negotiations with Iran in Pakistan ended without an agreement for its reopening.
“The meeting went well, agreement was reached on most points, but the only really important point, nuclear weapons, was not approved. Effective immediately, the United States Navy, the best in the world, will begin blocking all ships trying to enter or leave the Strait of Hormuz,” he said on his Truth Social network.
Trump also announced that he has ordered the Navy to intercept all ships in international waters that have paid a toll to Iran to circulate through the strait, as he assured that this fee is “illegal.”
“The blockade will begin shortly. Other countries will participate in this blockade. Iran will not be allowed to benefit from this illegal act of extortion. They want money and, more importantly, they want nuclear weapons,” he said.
Wait for an agreement
He also expressed his confidence that “at some point” an agreement will be reached for free entry and exit from that sea route, but accused Iran of having prevented it by laying mines.
“This is international extortion, and the leaders of the countries, especially the United States, will never allow themselves to be extorted,” insisted Trump, who affirmed that his country will be in charge of demining the strait.
Trump made this announcement after Vice President JD Vance and his special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner briefed him on the results of Saturday and Sunday’s negotiations with Iran in Islamabad, the highest-level contacts between the two countries since the Islamic revolution of 1979.
The Republican lamented that even though the meeting lasted almost 20 hours, “Iran is not willing to give up its nuclear ambitions.”
Although he said that there was enough progress to maintain the current truce in the fighting, he denounced that the Iranian authorities “were very inflexible regarding the most important issue,” he said in reference to the nuclear issue.
