US navy has started blocking ports in the Strait of Hormuz as Iran threatens “severe” response.
According to CNBC, the US on Monday, April 13, said it began blocking ships from entering or exiting Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz, attempting to ratchet up pressure on Iran to reopen the key oil route after peace negotiations collapsed.
As the 10 am ET deadline passed for the blockade to take effect, President Donald Trump warned Iran’s “fast attack ships” not to come near the US forces enforcing the closure.
Trump wrote on Truth Social, “If any of these ships come anywhere close to our BLOCKADE, they will be immediately ELIMINATED, using the same system of kill that we use against the drug dealers on boats at Sea. It is quick and brutal.”
Trump had announced the blockade plan Sunday in a social media post slamming Iran for refusing to give up its nuclear ambitions and accusing Tehran of “WORLD EXTORTION” by continuing to throttle traffic through the strait.
The US blockade applies to “any and all Ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump said.
The US Central Command later added the caveat that American forces “will not impede freedom of navigation for vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz to and from non-Iranian ports. The blockade will be enforced impartially against vessels of all nations entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas.”
US stocks sank and oil prices surged ahead of the blockade.
