Trump Orders Immediate Naval Blockade of Strait of Hormuz After Peace Talks Collapse

U.S. President Donald Trump ordered an immediate naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz on April 12, 2026, hours after peace talks between Washington and Tehran in Pakistan ended without a deal. Trump announced the order on Truth Social, stating that the U.S. Navy would begin blocking all vessels attempting to enter or leave the strait and would also intercept any ship in international waters that had paid a toll to Iran. Trump said the talks "went well, most points were agreed," but that the two sides had failed to reach agreement on Iran's nuclear program, according to Reuters. He also announced that U.S. forces would begin clearing Iranian mines from the waterway, warning that any Iranian who fires on American forces or civilian vessels "will be blown up." Trump described Iran's toll system as "worldwide extortion" and said other countries would be involved in the blockade, without specifying which ones.

Iran charges one dollar per barrel, forces ships into 8km corridor Iran has imposed a toll of one dollar per barrel of crude oil for passage through the strait and has mined large sections of the waterway, forcing vessels into a narrow corridor of approximately eight kilometers with shallow waters, according to reporting by LaSexta. The mining campaign has had a severe impact on maritime traffic: daily vessel transits through the strait have fallen from 130 (vessels per day) — daily traffic before Iranian mining campaign to approximately 15, according to the same source. The disruption has triggered a rise in global fuel prices and raised concerns about crude oil shortages. Iran's Revolutionary Guards Naval Command declared in a Persian-language post on X that "all traffic is under the full control of the armed forces" and warned that enemies would remain "trapped in a deadly vortex in the Strait if they make the wrong move," publishing a video showing ships in crosshairs, as reported by ANSA. The Guards also stated the previous day that any military vessel attempting to transit the strait would be treated "severely," and that passage would be "granted to civilian ships only under certain conditions."

Two U.S. warships entered the strait for minesweeping before blockade order U.S. Central Command reported that two U.S. Navy warships had already crossed the Strait of Hormuz to conduct minesweeping operations before Trump issued the blockade order, according to ANSA. During that operation, Iranian forces issued a direct warning to one of the U.S. destroyers, telling it: "This is the last warning. The last warning." One of the U.S. vessels responded by stating it was acting in accordance with international law and had no intention of challenging Iranian forces, adding that it intended to respect its government's ceasefire rules, as reported by LaSexta. Iranian state media, cited by the Wall Street Journal, reported that Iran had deployed Navy special forces along its southern coast to counter what Tehran described as a potential ground invasion by U.S. forces. Washington had ordered thousands of Marines and paratroopers to the Middle East, with further deployments planned following the start of a two-week ceasefire with Iran, according to ANSA. Iran has also reinforced air defenses, positioned mines, and set up bunkers on islands along its coast in recent weeks.

Before Iranian mining: 130, After Iranian mining: 15

Conflict rooted in February strikes, peace talks collapse in Pakistan The current confrontation over the strait stems from the broader U.S.-Israel military campaign against Iran that began on February 28, 2026, when the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iranian territory. The failure of peace talks in Pakistan on April 12 marked a significant escalation point, with Trump's blockade order arriving within hours of the negotiations collapsing over the nuclear issue. The Strait of Hormuz has historically been one of the world's most strategically sensitive maritime chokepoints. Roughly 20% of the world's crude oil passed through the strait before the current conflict, according to LaSexta. Iran has previously threatened to close the strait during periods of heightened tension with Western powers, but the current mining of the waterway and imposition of transit tolls represents an unprecedented level of physical control over the passage. Trump stated on Truth Social that "at some point" conditions would be reached where all vessels are permitted to enter and leave freely, but blamed Iran for preventing that outcome. The blockade order places the U.S. Navy in direct confrontation with Iranian forces that have declared full authority over the waterway, raising the risk of armed incidents in one of the world's most critical chokepoints for global energy supply.