Iran’s Guards Say Military Vessels Near Strait Would Breach Ceasefire
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards issued a stark warning on Monday, saying any military vessel that moves toward the Strait of Hormuz would be treated as a breach of the two-week ceasefire with the US and met with a forceful...
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards issued a stark warning on Monday, saying any military vessel that moves toward the Strait of Hormuz would be treated as a breach of the two-week ceasefire with the US and met with a forceful response.
In a statement carried by Iranian state media, the Guards said the strategic passage remains under the control and “smart management” of Iran’s Navy. They added that the waterway remains “open for the safe passage of non-military vessels in accordance with specific regulations”.
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The warning followed an order from US President Donald Trump for the US Navy to block the vital shipping route, after talks with Iran in Pakistan ended without agreement and left Washington angered by Tehran’s refusal to abandon its nuclear ambitions.
Answering Mr Trump’s declaration, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they retained full control over traffic in the narrow channel and warned that any adversary seeking to test that authority would be caught in what they called a “deadly vortex”.
“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,” Mr Trump said.
“Any Iranian who fires at us, or at peaceful vessels, will be BLOWN TO HELL!”
Iran has already been tightening restrictions on movement through the strait, a crucial artery for global shipments of oil, gas and fertiliser, while permitting passage for vessels judged to be linked to friendly nations, including China.
There have been unconfirmed reports that Tehran plans to charge tolls.
“THIS IS WORLD EXTORTION,” Mr Trump said. “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. We will also begin destroying the mines the Iranians laid in the Straits.”
The US military said yesterday that two Navy warships had passed through the strait to start clearing mines and to keep it a “safe pathway” for tankers, an assertion Tehran rejected.
There has been significant disruption to global trade through the Strait of Hormuz
Iran’s Fars news agency reported that two Pakistani-flagged oil tankers bound for the strait had reversed course.
With US-Iran negotiations falling apart, the prospect of renewed conflict sent fresh tremors through an already volatile region.
‘Act of extortion’
In a later interview on Fox News, Mr Trump again threatened Iran’s energy sector and said he would slap a 50% tariff on Chinese imports if Beijing moved to assist the Iranian military.
“I could take out Iran in one day. I could have their entire energy everything, every one of their plants, their electric generating plants, which is a big deal,” he said.
The president’s latest ultimatum appeared to stem from the breakdown in negotiations aimed at ending the six-week war that began when the US and Israel struck Tehran and killed Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei.
Iran’s insistence on retaining its right to a nuclear programme angered the US delegation, which was led by Vice President JD Vance, White House envoy Steve Witkoff and Mr Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
“I have always said, right from the beginning, and many years ago, IRAN WILL NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON!” Mr Trump said.
“The Blockade will begin shortly. Other Countries will be involved with this Blockade,” he added, without giving further details.
Analysts said a move to choke off the waterway in the middle of a two-week ceasefire, following the failed Islamabad talks, risked further damaging US credibility abroad.
“Imposing a blockade on the Strait of Hormuz right now – even if it’s implementable, which remains an open question – is bewildering and seems self-defeating,” said Shibley Telhami, a professor of peace and development at the University of Maryland.
Mr Vance left Pakistan after the negotiations, the most senior contact between the two sides since the 1979 Islamic revolution, and said Washington had delivered Tehran its “final and best offer” for an agreement, adding: “We’ll see if the Iranians accept it.”
Iran’s parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who led his country’s negotiating team, said he had “put forward constructive initiatives” but that the US side had failed to gain Iran’s trust.
Ceasefire efforts
The collapse of the talks is likely to deepen fears that a return to open conflict could lift global energy prices and inflict further damage on shipping lanes and oil and gas infrastructure.
Pakistan, which hosted the negotiations, appealed to both sides to keep observing the temporary truce.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke with the Sultan of Oman, Haitham bin Tariq, and the two leaders agreed that “was vital there was a continuation of the ceasefire, and that all parties avoided any further escalation”.
An EU spokesman said diplomacy would be “essential” to securing peace and praised Pakistan’s mediation, while Russian President Vladimir Putin called Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to offer Moscow’s help in the diplomatic push.
“Vladimir Putin emphasised his readiness to further facilitate the search for a political and diplomatic settlement to the conflict, and to mediate efforts to achieve a just and lasting peace in the Middle East,” the Kremlin said, in its read out of the call.