DAYS 41-44: Trump Declares Blockade As Talks Collapse

April 12, 2026
Joe Lauria

Donald Trump has announced plans for a naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz after the collapse of U.S.-Iran peace talks following 21 hours in an Islamabad hotel, writes Joe Lauria.

Trump’s Truth Social post on the blockade.

Donald Trump says he intends to impose a naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz to prevent ships from entering or leaving the Persian Gulf.

Trump made the call in a social media post hours after peace talks collapsed in Pakistan partially over the disputed waterway. Iran took control of the strait after the U.S.-Israeli unprovoked attack on Iran on Feb. 28 and has begun charging tolls to be paid in Chinese currency on ships it lets through.
Iran is only blocking ships of its enemies and their allies.  Trump wrote:

“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. … 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. Any Iranian who fires at us, or at peaceful vessels, will be BLOWN TO HELL.”

Such a blockade can be seen as targeting China, as Iran is allowing ships with oil bound for China to pass through the strait.
Trump wrote that “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.”
Britain held a virtual meeting with 40 nations on Thursday about opening the strait and afterward British Prime Minister Keir Starmer did not rule out military action, however there is no indication that he was referring to a naval blockade.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte met with Trump at the White House on Wednesday in what was reported have been a very contentious encounter. Trump has been furious with NATO for not sending its ships to open the strait, which was only closed because Trump attacked Iran without informing NATO ahead of time.  
The legality of such a blockade would be in question as it cannot be imposed by a country waging an illegal war of aggression. The U.S. and Israel never obtained a U.N. Security Council authorization to use force against Iran. (Nor did Trump obtain Congressional authorization). And the U.S. has made no plausible argument of acting in self defense under Article 51 of the U.N. Charter.
Trump ended his post with this threat. He is right about one thing. Khomeini is dead. He died in 1989.

“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, Khomeini, and most of their ‘Leaders,’ are dead, all because of their Nuclear ambition. They want money and, more importantly, they want Nuclear. Additionally and, at an appropriate moment, we are fully ‘LOCKED AND LOADED,’ and our Military will finish up the little that is left of Iran! President DONALD J. TRUMP”

Collapse of the Talks
Earlier on Sunday U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance left Islamabad without a permanent ceasefire agreement with Iran, claiming that Tehran refused to give a guarantee that it would not seek a nuclear weapon.
“We need to see an affirmative commitment that they will not seek a nuclear weapon and they will not seek the tools that would enable them to quickly achieve a nuclear weapon,” Vance told a press conference after the talks collapsed.
“The simple question is, do we see a fundamental commitment of will for the Iranians not to develop a nuclear weapon, not just now, not just two years from now, but for the long term? We haven’t seen that yet. … We just could not get to a situation where the Iranians were willing to accept our terms,” Vance said. 
Even David Sanger of The New York Times was somewhat incredulous at that statement:

“Vance’s statement that they need an ‘affirmative commitment’ not to build a nuclear weapon was odd, given that Iran has often made that commitment, including in writing under the 2015 nuclear accord with the Obama administration.”

The fatwa against developing the bomb decreed by the assassinated Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has not been lifted by his son who succeeded him as supreme leader.
Sanger thinks Vance’s emphasis on Iran not seeking “the tools” to enrich quickly to a weapon “is likely the key element to what is blocking an agreement.”
He wrote:

“That would require Iran to commit to never to enrich uranium and to turn over its current stockpile of nuclear fuel, starting with the 970 pounds of near-bomb-grade uranium, stored largely at Isfahan. Without those concessions — no stockpile and no enrichment on Iranian soil — the two sides appear to remain at odds.”

The Times and the Financial Times both reported that the other sticking point was opening the Strait of Hormuz.  Trump said in his post “the meeting went well, most points were agreed to, but the only point that really mattered, NUCLEAR, was not.”
However, it is very unlikely that the only points not agreed to were Hormuz and the nuclear issue and that the U.S. agreed to several of the other eight points of Iran’s 10-point peace proposal.   Are we to believe the U.S. agreed to remove its troops from the region, especially now that Trump has declared this blockade?
Iran’s Reaction
Iran has not yet reacted to Trump’s post about the blockade, but after two U.S. war ships tried to enter the Strait as the Islamabad talks were getting underway, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy issued statements warning of a “firm and decisive response” to any military vessels attempting to transit or interfere in the Strait of Hormuz.
At the end the talks, the head of Iran’s delegation, Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said:

“Before the negotiations, I emphasized that we have the necessary good faith and will, but due to the experiences of the two previous wars, we have no trust in the opposing side. My colleagues on the Iranian delegation raised forward-looking initiatives, but the opposing side ultimately failed to gain the trust of the Iranian delegation in this round of negotiations. America has understood our logic and principles, and now it’s time for it to decide whether it can earn our trust or not.”

Iran’s Fars News Agency reported on Sunday that “a knowledgeable source” said Iran had “raised reasonable initiatives and proposals in the negotiations,” and that the U.S. must “examine the issues with a realistic approach.” The source said the U.S. “has so far been mistaken in its calculations of the negotiations, just as it failed in its military calculations.”
The report said Iran “has no urgency” and that “as long as the U.S. does not agree to a reasonable agreement – there will be no change in the situation in the Strait of Hormuz.”
A separate source said the U.S. “sought an excuse to leave the negotiating table” even though the U.S. “needed the negotiations to restore its image damaged on the international stage.”
Multiple Western media outlets are reporting that the direct meeting between Vance and Ghalibaf was highest level U.S.-Iranian meeting since the 1979 revolution.  Secretary of State John Kerry met several times with Foreign Minister Javad Zarif as they negotiated the JPCOA nuclear deal in 2014.
What’s Next
That same source said Iran “has no plan for another round of negotiations.” Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif of Pakistan told CBS News on Sunday, “The talks are not dead. There’s a stalemate.”
Vance said nothing about whether there would be another around during the two week ceasefire. However, Trump’s post about a blockade has opened a new dynamic that could easily lead to a resumption of the war.
Lebanon in Flames
Lebanon has remained a flashpoint in the negotiations and on the ground. Iran and Pakistan insisted that the Israeli front against Lebanon was part of the ceasefire and Iran threatened not to take part in the talks if it was not.
The New York Times reported that the U.S. agreed, having edited the statement that Pakistan put out announcing the truce, which included Lebanon. But when Israel got wind it they kicked up a fuss until the U.S. starting saying Lebanon was not part of the ceasefire. 
That nearly derailed the Islamabad talks.  Iran insisted the U.S. tell Israel to stop attacking Lebanon where on Wednesday it killed more than 300 people and wounded more than a thousand in a single day.
Iran framed its demand as a test to see if Trump controlled Netanyahu or the other way around. In the end it appears the U.S. got Israel to stop bombing Beirut and restrict its attacks to the south of Lebanon. That allowed the talks to proceed.
Israel also said it would meet in Washington with Lebanon’s U.S. ambassador to discuss the war and the disarmament of Hezbollah. This is a pure P.R. maneuver by Israel. Israel is not at war with the Lebanese government which also wants to disarm Hezbollah. However the Lebanese Army is too weak to do so so the Washington meeting will be about cooperating toward the same military goal, not talks to end the war.