IRAN WAR LATEST: Trump threatens ‘immediate’ Strait of Hormuz blockade after talks fail

Iranian official accuses the U.S. of making 'excessive demands and unlawful requests'

Published Apr 12, 2026  •  4 minute read

A woman passes in front of a pro-government political mural on April 12, 2026 in Tehran, Iran. Photo by Majid Saeedi /Getty Images

U.S. President Donald Trump said the U.S. navy would “immediately” begin blockading the Strait of Hormuz after peace talks in Pakistan did not end with an agreement to permanently end the war in the Middle East.

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In his first comments since negotiations between the U.S. and Iranian delegations ended early Sunday morning in Islamabad, Trump lashed out at Iran, saying that it “knowingly failed” to follow through on its promise to open the Strait of Hormuz.

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“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 lengthy post on Truth Social Sunday morning.

Calling Iran’s threat of sea mines and the collection of tolls on the vital oil shipping route “extortion,” the U.S. president said the U.S. navy has been instructed 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 that that U.S. navy will “begin destroying the mines the Iranians laid in the straits,” while also warning, “Any Iranian who fires at us, or at peaceful vessels, will be BLOWN TO HELL!”

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He also said other countries will be involved in this blockade.

He ended the post, saying: “Iran will not be allowed to profit off this Illegal Act of EXTORTION. They want money and, more importantly, they want Nuclear. Additionally and, at an appropriate moment, we are fully ‘LOCKED AND LOADED,’ and our Military will finish up the little that is left of Iran!”

In a follow-up post, Trump said Iran “knowingly failed” to fulfil its promise of opening the Strait of Hormuz, causing “anxiety, dislocation, and pain” for many people and countries around the world.

The strait is one of the world’s most important oil chokepoints, accounting for about 20% of global oil supplies before the war, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Trump also said peace talks between the U.S. and Iranian delegations in Islamabad lasted close to 20 hours and broke off after Iran refused to give up its nuclear ambitions — a key U.S. condition for a peace deal.

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Nuclear program key sticking point: JD Vance

The weekend peace talks between U.S. and Iranian officials — the highest-level negotiations between the longtime rivals since the 1979 Islamic Revolution — ended with no deal Sunday morning.

“I think that’s bad news for Iran much more than it’s bad news for the United States of America. So we go back to the United States having not come to an agreement,” U.S. Vice-President JD Vance told reporters after talks ended.

“We need to see an affirmative commitment that they will not seek a nuclear weapon and they will not seek the tools that would enable them to quickly achieve a nuclear weapon,” Vance said.

Iran’s parliamentary Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, who led the Iranian delegation, said in a post on X that the U.S. delegation “failed to gain the trust of the Iranian delegation in this round of negotiations.”

Hours earlier, Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said U.S. aggression is not helping the process of the peace talks.

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“While U.S. authorities accuse Iran of lacking ‘good faith’ and engaging in ‘extortion,’ elements within the U.S. policy and media space are outright recommending the assassination of Iranian negotiators in the event that negotiations fail,” Baquei wrote on X. “Is this not, in effect, a policy discourse that normalizes extortion through the threat or public incitement of terror, violence, and manslaughter?“

In a subsequent post on X, Baqaei said, “The success of this diplomatic process depends on the seriousness and good faith of the opposing side, refraining from excessive demands and unlawful requests, and the acceptance of Iran’s legitimate rights and interests.”

Neither side indicated what would happen after the 14-day ceasefire expires on April 22.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said his country will try to facilitate a new dialogue between Iran and the U.S. in the coming days.

Israel presses ahead with strikes in Lebanon

The impasse raises new questions about Lebanon. Israel has said the agreement did not apply there, but Iran and Pakistan claimed otherwise. Negotiations between Israel and Lebanon are expected to begin Tuesday in Washington after Israel’s surprise announcement authorizing talks despite the lack of official relations between the countries.

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The day the Iran ceasefire deal was announced, Israel pounded Beirut with airstrikes, killing more than 300 people in the deadliest day in Lebanon since the war began, according to the country’s Health Ministry.

Though Israel’s strikes over Beirut have calmed, its attacks on southern Lebanon have intensified alongside the ground invasion it renewed after Hezbollah launched rockets toward Israel in the war’s opening days.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported six people were killed Sunday in an Israeli strike in Maaroub village near the coastal city of Tyre.

Israel wants Lebanon’s government to assume responsibility for disarming Hezbollah, but the militant group has survived efforts to curb its strength for decades.

— With files from The Associated Press.

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