After talks in Pakistan’s Islamabad yielded no results, everyone wondered: what’s next in US-Iran ties? And on Sunday (April 12), US President Donald Trump made his plans clear when he announced that the US navy would commence a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, after “Iran promised to open the Strait of Hormuz” and “knowingly failed to do so”.

“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 wrote on his social media platform. “Any Iranian who fires at us, or at peaceful vessels, will be blown to hell!”

STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD

Following his announcement, the US military said it would begin a blockade of all Iranian ports within hours, with US Central Command stating, “The blockade will be enforced impartially against vessels of all nations entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas, including all Iranian ports on the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman,”, adding that it would begin at 1400 GMT on Monday.

But why does Trump want to blockade the Strait of Hormuz, the very one he wants reopened?

We have the answers.

What did Trump say about blockading Strait of Hormuz?

A day after the
US-Iran talks, led by Vice President JD Vance, in Islamabad ended in failure, Donald Trump returned to his threats, announcing the
US would begin blockading the Strait of Hormuz in an attempt to take control of the strategic waterway from Iran.

Trump said he had instructed the US navy to begin “blockading any and all ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz,” and he accused Iran of extortion with its own scheme of charging tolls to tankers.

US President Donald Trump accused Iran of “extortion” and said the US navy would hunt down and interdict ships in international waters that have paid Iran a toll to traverse the strait. Reuters

In a pair of posts on Truth Social, the US president stated that the US military would begin blockading ships entering or leaving the strait, and would also intercept any vessel that has paid tolls to Iran to transit it safely. He also said that any Iranian who fires on the US military or other, peaceful vessels will be “blown to hell” while the navy works to de-mine the strait.

“This is world extortion,” Trump wrote in one of the posts, “and leaders of countries, especially the United States of America, will never be extorted.”

How would a US blockade work in the Strait of Hormuz?

After making his initial announcement of blockading the Strait of Hormuz, Trump told US broadcaster Fox News the blockade “will take a little while, but will be effective pretty soon”, and described it as an “all or none” policy.

Later, the US Centcom said its forces would begin implementing the blockade “of all maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports on April 13 at 10 am ET, in accordance with the President’s proclamation”.

“The blockade will be enforced impartially against vessels of all nations entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas, including all Iranian ports on the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman,” it added in its statement on X.

A tanker sits anchored as the traffic is down in the Strait of Hormuz, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Muscat, Oman. File image/Reuters

Centcom said that US forces would not impede the freedom of vessels transiting to and from non-Iranian ports, and that additional information would be provided to commercial mariners via a formal notice before the blockade starts.

STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD

Additionally, the US president told Fox News that Nato has offered to help “clean out” the strait, adding that it would be free to use again “in not too long a distance”. Trump said the US would bring in minesweepers, and that the UK – a member of Nato – would too.

Why is US looking to blockade the strait?

Since the war began on February 28 with US-Israel airstrikes killing Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran has leveraged the strait’s geography, selectively preventing vessels from passing through the narrow waterway and spiking oil prices in the process. Some of the vessels that have passed through the strait have reportedly paid a toll of up to $2 million per ship.

Additionally, Iran has been passing its own oil in and out of the region throughout the war: Iran managed to export an average of 1.85 million barrels of crude a day through March — about 100,000 barrels a day more than in the previous three months, according to data and analytics firm Kpler.

Now, Trump looks to close off the strait, effectively cutting off a significant source of revenue for the Iranian government. However, this could risk sending oil and gas prices even higher. Trump told Fox News that “we’re not going to let Iran make money on selling oil to people that they like and not people that they don’t like”, saying the goal instead was letting “all or nothing” pass through the crucial shipping channel.

STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS ADWhat could be the impact of blockading the Strait of Hormuz?

If Trump does go ahead with his plan of blockading the Strait of Hormuz, it would escalate the warfare between Iran and the US.

It could also put the US on a collision course with more countries that depend on Iran for oil. In an analysis published by the Los Angeles Times, the newspaper noted that Trump’s latest move would not only
drive up the prices of oil globally but also provoke confrontation with China.

Drops of petrol fall from the nozzle of a petrol pump at a gas station in Mulhouse, eastern France, The threat of blockading the Strait of Hormuz has already caused the price of oil to rise. File image/Reuters

That’s because no country relies more heavily on the strait than China, which receives nearly half of its oil imports through the international waterway. In recent days, Beijing has warned that access to its shipping lanes “must be guaranteed.”

Trump administration officials believe the blockade could compel China to pressure Tehran into making further concessions, following Beijing’s crucial role earlier this month in
convincing Iran to accept an initial ceasefire.

The Los Angeles Times added that a full blockade of the strait could force China to become more directly involved in a conflict that is already heightening tensions with Washington.

The prices of oil have already reacted negatively to Trump’s news. Oil prices jumped above $100 a barrel. “The market is now largely back to conditions before the ceasefire, except now the US will block the remaining up to two million barrels per day Iranian-linked flows through the Strait of Hormuz as well,” Saul Kavonic, head of energy research at MST Marquee, told Reuters.

STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS ADWill such a blockade actually happen and what does Iran say?

Many experts believe that Trump’s plan of blockading the Strait of Hormuz is very difficult. “Trump’s plan to use the navy to block the strait is unrealistic, and he will have to concede on some issues with Iran,” said Andreas Krieg, a senior lecturer in security studies at Kings College London, to ABC News. “There isn’t any tool in the toolbox in terms of the military lever that he could use to get his way.”

Other experts also noted that the blockade is an act of war that requires an open-ended commitment of a significant number of warships. “Trump wants a quick fix. The reality is, this mission is difficult to execute alone and likely unsustainable over the medium to long-term,” Dana Stroul, a former senior Pentagon official during the Biden administration now at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, told Reuters.

A woman holds Iran’s national flag while standing near a billboard with a sentence reading ‘The Strait of Hormuz remains closed’ at the Enqelab Square in Tehran. AFP

Retired Admiral Gary Roughead, a former chief of US naval operations, was also quoted as saying that such a move would prompt Iran to react strongly. “I honestly believe that if we begin to do it, Iran will have some kind of a reaction,” Roughead said.

Meanwhile, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has warned that while civilian vessels can cross the Strait of Hormuz, military vessels approaching the strait would be considered in violation of the ceasefire and “dealt with severely”. Additionally, Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said that the country would “not bow to any threats” from Washington, while navy chief Shahram Irani called Trump’s blockade threat “ridiculous”.

STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD

Trump’s comments have also raised concerns about the status of the fragile
two-week ceasefire.

All in all, it seems that this war isn’t ending anytime soon. We will be watching closely as to what happens next.

With inputs from agencies

First Published:
April 13, 2026, 08:23 IST

HomeExplainersIran is already blocking the Strait of Hormuz. Why does Trump want a blockade?End of Article