*Iran Warns Military Vessels Will Be Dealt With Harshly, Decisively
UNITED States (US) President, Donald Trump, said on Sunday, April 12, that the country’s Navy would start blockading the Strait of Hormuz, raising the stakes, after marathon talks with Iran failed to reach a deal to end the war, jeopardising a fragile two-week ceasefire.
Trump also said in a post on Truth Social that the US would take action against every vessel in international waters that had paid a toll to Iran, and begin destroying mines that he said the Iranians had dropped in the strait, a choke point for about 20 per cent of global energy supplies that Iran has blocked.
“No one who pays an illegal toll will have safe passage on the high seas,” Trump wrote, adding: “Any Iranian who fires at us, or at peaceful vessels, will be BLOWN TO HELL!”
Reuters reported Iran’s Revolutionary Guards as responded with a statement warning that military vessels approaching the strait will be considered a ceasefire breach and dealt with harshly and decisively, underlining the risk of a dangerous escalation.
The strait is under the control and ‘smart management’ of Iran’s Navy, the Guards said in a statement reported by Iranian state media, adding it was “open for the safe passage of non-military vessels in accordance with specific regulations.”
Iran’s Parliamentary Speaker, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, who led his country’s delegation to the talks, along with Foreign Minister, Abbas Araqchi, said Trump’s new threats would have no effect on Iran.
“If you fight, we will fight, and if you come forward with logic, we will deal with logic,” he said, in comments carried by state media.
Six weeks of fighting has killed thousands, roiled the global economy and sent oil prices soaring as Iran prevented traffic through the strait.
In an interview with Fox News after his post about the strait, Trump said that he believed Iran would continue to negotiate and called the weekend discussions “very friendly”.
“I do believe they’re going to come to the table on this, because nobody can be so stupid as to say, ‘we want nuclear weapons,’ and they have no cards,” Trump told Fox News from his golf course near Miami, Florida.
He also said that NATO allies, whom he has criticised for failing to back the war he launched along with Israel on February 28, wanted to help with the operation in the strait.
Last Tuesday’s engagements were the first direct U.S.-Iranian meeting in over 10 years and the highest-level discussions since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
