US Navy Blockade of Iranian Ports Takes Effect as Trump Vows to Sink Approaching Ships

After the Islamabad talks fail, Trump orders the US Navy to blockade all ships entering or leaving Iranian ports, effective April 13 at 10 a.m. ET. The IRGC vows retaliation, oil prices surge above $100, and France and the UK call for urgent freedom-of-navigation talks.

After the Islamabad Talks collapsed on April 12 without a deal, President Trump announced on Truth Social that the United States Navy would immediately blockade all ships trying to enter or leave the Strait of Hormuz. "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," Trump wrote. He added that any Iranian military vessels approaching the blockade would be sunk. The US military blockade on traffic to and from Iranian ports officially took effect at 10 a.m. ET on April 13, 2026. US Central Command (CENTCOM) clarified that the blockade would not impede non-Iranian vessels transiting the strait to and from non-Iranian ports — making it a targeted embargo of Iranian trade rather than a full closure of the waterway. Nonetheless, shipping traffic through the strait fell sharply, with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps vowing to retaliate and insisting the strait remained open under Iranian authority. Oil prices climbed back above $100 a barrel, and stock markets fell globally. French President Emmanuel Macron announced that France and the United Kingdom would convene separate talks aimed at restoring freedom of navigation in the strait. China's Foreign Ministry called on the US to "immediately lift" the blockade. The standoff brought US-Iran tensions to their highest point since the war began.