ISLAMABAD (AP) — President Donald Trump said Sunday that the U.S. Navy will “immediately” begin a blockade to prevent ships from entering or leaving the Strait of Hormuz after historic U.S.-Iran ceasefire talks in Pakistan ended without an agreement or further diplomatic steps.
In his first public comments since the 21-hour talks, Trump sought strategic control of the waterway, which before the war was responsible for transporting 20% of global oil supplies, in hopes of cutting off Iran’s main source.
A US embargo could further shock global energy markets and the prices of oil, natural gas and related products. It wasn’t immediately clear how that would be done, but Trump told Fox News that the goal is to make sure all ships can transit: “It’s going to be all or none, and that’s the way it is.”
Trump said, “He has directed our Navy to search and intercept every vessel in international waters that pays tolls to Iran. Any illegal tolls will have no safe passage on the high seas.” Other nations would be involved in the blockade, he said, but did not name them.
During the talks, the U.S. military said two destroyers crossed the strait ahead of mine-sweeping operations, the first since the war began. Iranian state media said the Joint Military Command denied this.
Trump insisted that Tehran’s nuclear ambitions were at the root of the failure to end the war, and that the US was ready to “terminate” Iran at the “appropriate moment”. In comments on Fox News, he again threatened to strike civilian infrastructure and said he was fine with the widely criticized threat that “the whole civilization will die tonight” shortly before the ceasefire was announced.
Nothing about what happens after the ceasefire expires
The face-to-face talks, which ended early Sunday, are the first high-level talks between the long-time rivals since the 1979 Islamic revolution. Both delegations later left Islamabad.
There is also no mention of what will happen after the 14-day ceasefire expires on April 22. Pakistani mediators urged all parties to maintain it. Both sides have made their stand clear and blamed the other.
“We need to see a positive commitment that they will not seek nuclear weapons, and that they will not immediately seek the tools that would enable them to acquire nuclear weapons,” Vice President J.D. Vance, who leads the US side, said later.
Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, who leads Iran’s side, said it was time for the US to “decide whether it can win our trust.” Iranian officials have previously said the talks broke down into two or three main issues, which they called US overreach.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has said that his country will try to facilitate new talks in the coming days. Iran has said it is open to continuing talks, Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported.
The European Union has called for more diplomatic efforts. Oman’s foreign minister called on the parties to make “painful concessions” on the southern coast of the Strait of Hormuz. And the Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin “underlined his readiness” to help broker a diplomatic solution in a call with Iran’s president.
Iran’s nuclear program is a key point
Iran’s nuclear program has long been at the center of tensions since the start of war between the US and Israel on February 28. The war has killed at least 3,000 in Iran, 2,020 in Lebanon, 23 in Israel and more than a dozen in the Gulf Arab states, and caused lasting damage to infrastructure in half a dozen Middle Eastern countries.
Tehran has long denied seeking nuclear weapons but insists on its right to a civilian nuclear program. The landmark 2015 nuclear deal took more than a year of negotiations. Experts say Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium, though not weapons-grade, is only a short technological step away.
An Iranian diplomatic official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the closed-door talks, denied that talks over Iran’s nuclear ambitions had failed. “Iran is not seeking to acquire nuclear weapons, but has the right to nuclear energy for peaceful purposes,” the official said.
Inside Iran, there was fresh exhaustion and anger after months of unrest that began with nationwide protests over economic issues and then political issues and then weeks of shelter from American and Israeli bombing.
“We have never sought war. But if they try to win what they could not win on the battlefield through negotiations, it is absolutely unacceptable,” Mohammad Bagher Karami, 60, said in Tehran.
More questions as Israel advances in Lebanon
Iran’s 10-point proposal for talks called for a guaranteed end to the war, including an end to fighting against Iran’s “regional allies”, explicitly calling for a halt to Israeli attacks on Iranian-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Israel says the ceasefire agreement does not apply to Lebanon, but Iran and Pakistan say otherwise. Talks between Israel and Lebanon are expected to begin in Washington on Tuesday, with Israel authorizing the talks despite the lack of official ties.
On the day the Iran ceasefire deal was announced, Israel launched an airstrike in Beirut, killing more than 300 people in Lebanon’s deadliest day since the war began, according to the country’s health ministry.
Although Israel’s offensive in Beirut has been quiet, its attacks in southern Lebanon have intensified with a renewed ground offensive after Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel in the early days of the war.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said six people were killed in Sunday’s attack in the village of Maroub, near the coastal city of Tyre.
Israel wants Lebanon’s government to take responsibility for disarming Hezbollah, but the militant group has survived decades of efforts to curb its power.
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Metz reported from Ramallah, the West Bank, Bock from Miami and Magdi from Cairo. E. in Beijing. Eduardo Castillo, Colin Binkley and Ben Finley in Washington, Karim Chehaib in Beirut and Ghaya Ben Mbarek in Tunis contributed.
