Trump announces that US will take control of the Strait of Hormuz

Trump also announced that he ordered the Navy to intercept all ships in international waters that have paid a toll to Iran to circulate through the strait, ensuring that such a fee is illegal. “The blockade will begin soon. Other countries will participate in this blockade. Iran will not be allowed to benefit from this illegal act of extortion. They want money and, most importantly, they want nuclear weapons,” he said.

The president also expressed confidence that at some point an agreement will be reached for free entry and exit from the maritime route, but accused Iran of having avoided consensus by laying mines. “This is international extortion, and the leaders of countries, especially the United States, will never allow themselves to be extorted,” insisted Trump, who stated that his country will be in charge of demining the strait.

Trump made the announcement after being briefed by Vice President JD Vance and his special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner on the results of Saturday and Sunday’s talks with Iran in Islamabad – the highest-level contacts between the two countries since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The Republican lamented that, despite the meeting lasting almost 20 hours, “Iran is not willing to give up its nuclear ambitions.” Although he stated that there had been sufficient progress to maintain the current truce in the fighting, Trump criticized that the Iranian authorities “were very inflexible on the most important issue”, in reference to the nuclear issue.