US President Donald Trump answers questions after signing an executive order to limit mail-in voting in the Oval Office of the White House on March 31, 2026 in Washington, DC.
Alex Wong | getty images
The United States said on Monday it has started blocking ships from entering or exiting Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz in an effort to increase pressure on Iran to reopen the key oil route after failed peace talks.
“We cannot allow any country to blackmail or extort the world, because that’s what they’re doing,” President Donald Trump told reporters outside the Oval Office after the blockade went into effect at 10 a.m. ET.
Asked if the goal of the blockage was to force Iran to reopen the strait or to come to the negotiating table, Trump said, “Both of those things, certainly, and more.”
Trump’s surprise remarks at the White House came after Vice President J.D. Vance returned from Pakistan without a deal with Iran and last week’s two-week ceasefire looked shaky amid rising tensions in the Middle East.
Trump claimed on Monday that Iran wants a peace deal “very badly” despite talks ending in a deadlock in Pakistan over the weekend.
“The main thing was that they would never have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said of Iran.
He said, “We agreed on many things, but they did not agree on this and I think they will agree on this. I am almost convinced on this. In fact, I am convinced on this. If they do not agree, there is no agreement.”
As the blockade took effect Monday morning, Trump earlier on Monday warned Iran’s “fast strike ships” not to come near US forces enforcing the closure.
“If any of these ships come close to our blockade, they will be immediately removed using the same system of kill that we use against drug dealers on boats at sea,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “It’s quick and brutal.”
A White House official confirmed to CNBC that the blockade has gone into effect.
Trump announced the blockade plan in a social media post on Sunday, accusing Tehran of “world extortion” by continuing to block traffic through the strait.
The U.S. blockade applies to “any and all vessels attempting to enter or leave the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump said.
US Central Command later warned that US forces “will not hinder freedom of navigation for ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz from non-Iranian ports.”
CENTCOM specified, “The blockade will be enforced impartially against ships of all nations entering or departing from Iranian ports and coastal areas, including all Iranian ports on the Arabian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.”
Trump said in his Truth Social post that other countries would “join” the blockade. But some US allies, including NATO members Britain and France, have already done so refused to join Attempt.
Iranian officials reacted boldly, warning that a US blockade would only drive up global energy prices.
“Enjoy the current pump figures. With the so-called ‘blockade,’ soon you will become nostalgic for $4-$5 gas,” Iran’s parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said in an X post on Sunday.
A fragile US-Iran ceasefire, although not officially abrogated, has become deeply entrenched as each side accuses the other of violating the terms of the ceasefire.
The ceasefire last week came after Trump issued an ultimatum that Iran’s “whole civilization will die” if a deal was not reached by Tuesday evening.
Vance and other US negotiators flew to Islamabad for weekend peace talks with Iran, raising hopes that a deal could be reached to end the war.
But Vance said early Sunday that the US delegation would return home without any deal. Even after 21 hours of negotiations, Iran refused to agree not to seek or develop nuclear weapons, Vance said.
This is developing news. Please check back for updates.
