Trump thanks Pakistan for hosting talks, announces US Navy blockade of Hormuz

United States President Donald Trump on Sunday thanked Pakistan for hosting talks between Washington and Tehran in Islamabad, while announcing that the US Navy would begin blockading the Strait of Hormuz after negotiations failed to produce a breakthrough.

The US and Iran were unable to reach an agreement to end their war despite marathon negotiations lasting around 21 hours, which concluded on Sunday. The prolonged talks, aimed at halting hostilities that have killed thousands and driven global oil prices higher over the past six weeks, ended with both sides blaming each other for the impasse.

In a post on social media platform Truth Social, President Trump expressed appreciation for Pakistan’s role in facilitating the dialogue, praising Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the country’s military leadership.

“I have been fully debriefed by Vice President JD Vance, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, and Jared Kushner, on the meeting that took place in Islamabad through the kind and very competent leadership of Field Marshal Asim Munir, and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, of Pakistan,” he said, describing them as “extraordinary men”.

Reflecting on the outcome of the talks, Trump said that while progress had been made on several fronts, the core issue remained unresolved.

Read: Vance leaves Islamabad after 21-hour talks end without agreement, praises Pakistan’s mediation efforts

“The meeting went well, most points were agreed to, but the only point that really mattered, nuclear, was not,” he said.

Detailing the negotiations, the US president highlighted the duration and intensity of the engagement.

“The meeting with Iran began early in the morning, and lasted throughout the night — close to 20 hours. I could go into great detail, and talk about much that has been gotten but, there is only one thing that matters — Iran is unwilling to give up its nuclear ambitions,” he said.

“In many ways, the points that were agreed to are better than us continuing our military operations to conclusion, but all of those points don’t matter compared to allowing nuclear power to be in the hands of such volatile, difficult, unpredictable people,” he added.

Trump further said that despite cordial interactions between delegations, Iran remained firm on the key issue.

“My three representatives, as all of this time went by, became, not surprisingly, very friendly and respectful of Iran’s representatives, Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, Abbas Araghchi, and Ali Bagheri, but that doesn’t matter because they were very unyielding as to the single most important issue and, as I have always said, right from the beginning, and many years ago, Iran will never have a nuclear weapon,” he stated.

Following the collapse of talks, Trump announced that the US Navy would begin blocking the Strait of Hormuz with immediate effect.

“The US Navy will begin the process of blockading any and all ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz,” he said, adding that the move would be “effective immediately”.

Also Read: Ghalibaf says US failed to earn Iran’s trust despite ‘goodwill, forward-looking initiatives’

“At some point, we will reach an ‘all being allowed to go in, all being allowed to go out’ basis, but Iran has not allowed that to happen,” he said, accusing Tehran of creating uncertainty by suggesting the presence of naval mines.

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

He added that US forces had been instructed to interdict vessels suspected of paying tolls to Iran and to begin clearing mines in the waterway.

“I have also instructed our navy to seek and interdict every vessel in international waters that has paid a toll to Iran. No one who pays an illegal toll will have safe passage on the high seas. We will also begin destroying the mines the Iranians laid in the straits,” he said.

Issuing a stern warning, Trump said: “Any Iranian who fires at us, or at peaceful vessels, will be blown to hell.”

He further claimed that Iran had been severely weakened by the conflict.

“Iran knows, better than anyone, how to end this situation which has already devastated their country. Their navy is gone, their air force is gone, their anti-aircraft and radar are useless … all because of their nuclear ambition,” he said, adding that the blockade would involve other countries.

Read: FM Dar calls on US, Iran to uphold ceasefire commitment after talks end without agreement

“The blockade will begin shortly. Other countries will be involved with this blockade. Iran will not be allowed to profit off this illegal act of extortion,” he added.

Trump also accused Iran of failing to honour commitments regarding the waterway.

“Iran promised to open the Strait of Hormuz, and they knowingly failed to do so. This caused anxiety, dislocation, and pain to many people and countries throughout the world,” he said.

“They say they put mines in the water … but what ship owner would want to take the chance?” he added, warning of reputational damage to Iran and urging it to reopen the route swiftly.

“As they promised, they better begin the process of getting this international waterway open and fast. Every law in the book is being violated by them,” Trump said.

US, allies to enforce Iran blockade: Trump

Later, in an interview with Fox News, President Trump said that other countries would be assisting the US in a naval blockade against Iran after Saturday’s talks with Tehran in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, failed to produce a deal to end weeks of war in the Middle East.

“Well, we’re going to be blockading. It’ll take a little while, but it’ll be effective pretty soon,” Trump said.

“We think that numerous countries are going to be helping us with this also, but we’re putting on a complete blockade. 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,” he said.

The US president added that the blockade would “take a little while, but it’ll be effective pretty soon”, and said Gulf states were already helping with the effort, without specifying the countries.

Trump said Iran could say: “We’ll drop one mine, two mines, 10 mines. And that will, if you have a ship that costs a billion dollars, you say, well, you know, I prefer not getting whacked by a mine, losing my ship or damaging it badly at least,” calling it “extortion”.

He said the US and other countries would be sending minesweepers to the Strait of Hormuz to clear mines allegedly laid by Iran.

“We have minesweepers there now. We have highly sophisticated underwater minesweepers, which are the latest and the greatest, but we’re also bringing in more traditional minesweepers. And so I understand the UK and a couple of other countries are sending minesweepers,” he said.

IRGC warns of ‘deadly whirlpools’ in Hormuz

Meanwhile, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has warned that “any miscalculated move will trap the enemy in the deadly whirlpools” of the Strait of Hormuz, following US President Donald Trump’s order for a naval blockade of the strategic waterway.

The IRGC Navy command also shared drone footage of the Strait of Hormuz, claiming “complete control” over all movements in the area, and warned that any wrong move would have severe consequences in the narrow shipping route.

Strait of Hormuz ‘firmly in our hands’, says senior Iranian adviser

Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, said the Strait of Hormuz is “firmly in our hands,” emphasizing Tehran’s resolve to safeguard its national interests following recent talks in Pakistan with the US.

Velayati said through US social media company X that Iran’s diplomatic approach is based on a single principle: protecting the country.

“Today the Strait of Hormuz is firmly in our hands,” he said.

Velayati added that Iran’s diplomatic efforts remain focused on ensuring national sovereignty and defending its strategic interests.

Iranian demands

Tehran is demanding control ⁠of the Strait of Hormuz, payment of war reparations and a ceasefire across the region, including in Lebanon, according to Iranian state TV and officials, as well as the release of its frozen assets abroad.

Tehran also wants to collect transit fees in the Strait of Hormuz.

Despite the differences in Islamabad, three supertankers fully laden with oil passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, shipping data showed, in what appeared to be the first vessels to ⁠exit the Gulf ​since the ceasefire deal.

Read More: Iran’s vice president vows to defend rights from Hormuz to compensation

Hundreds of tankers are still stuck in the Gulf, waiting to exit during the two-week ceasefire period.

Trump’s ​stated goals have shifted, but as a minimum he wants free passage for global shipping through the strait and the crippling of Iran’s nuclear enrichment programme to ensure it cannot produce an atomic bomb.

Tehran has long denied seeking to build a nuclear weapon.