US threatens its own blockade on the Strait of Hormuz
Monday, 13 April 2026
US Central Command has announced that it will begin a blockade of Iranian ports on Monday at 10 am ET. (2am on Tuesday NZ time)
CENTCOM said the blockade would be “enforced impartially against vessels of all nations” entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas.
It said it would still allow ships travelling between non-Iranian ports to transit the Strait of Hormuz.
Traffic in the Strait has been limited even in the days since the ceasefire. Marine trackers say over 40 commercial ships have crossed since the start of the ceasefire.
Earlier President Donald Trump said the U.S. Navy would “immediately” begin a blockade of ships entering or leaving the Strait of Hormuz, after US-Iran ceasefire talks in Pakistan ended without an agreement.
Trump wants to weaken Iran’s key leverage in the war after demanding that it reopen the strait to all global traffic on the waterway that was responsible for 20% of global oil shipping before fighting began.
A US blockade could further rattle global energy markets. “It’s going to be all or none, and that’s the way it is,' Trump told Fox News.
Trump said on social media that he told the 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.” He said other nations would be involved but did not name them.
Freedom of peaceful navigation is a basic principle of international maritime trade.
The reason for the move was to scupper Iran’s policing of the Strait and its ability to collect tolls from countries that it has agreed to let through.
The move follows a lack of agreement, sought by US Vice President JD Vance and the US team, with the Iranian delegation, in a more than 21-hour meeting over the weekend. Iran reportedly refused to give up its nuclear programme.
Such a move would likely further exacerbate the oil shock afflicting several economies in the wake of Iran’s restrictions on the Strait, which started when the US and Israel attacked in on February 28, ostensibly to stop what they believed to be an imminent nuclear threat.
Brent Crude last traded at approximately US$95.20 per barrel, edging up after oil prices plummeted to between $94 -$96 per barrel immediately following the announcement of a two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran on 7 April 2026. Prior to the deal, prices had peaked near $120 per barrel due to the effective closure to most ships through the Strait of Hormuz.