Donald Trump Says US To Blockade All Ships Entering Or Leaving Hormuz.

Washington DC; April 2026: Hours after the US-Iran talks in Islamabad failed, US President Donald Trump has warned that United States forces will immediately “begin the process of BLOCKADING any and all Ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz. 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”, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “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”.

The US President have further said in his Truth Social post that Washington remains “locked and loaded” and its military will “finish up” Iran at the “appropriate moment”. The fact that Trump says the US is fully “locked and loaded” is very consequential because the US president had said very firmly before these talks that if no deal is reached, the US military would be loading up and ready to go. So, the US president has now reiterated that, and it will have ramifications far beyond Islamabad.

Until Trump sent the post, there definitely was still an air of hope in the atmosphere of Islamabad. Something historic had occurred. Both sides sat face-to-face for the first time in decades. Pakistan also knew that there was rapport for the first time. Teams had hung around after JD Vance, along with Kushner and Witkoff, boarded Air Force Two to leave Islamabad. Those people were talking at a much lower level, and the hope was that this would continue, that there would be some sort of shuttle-type diplomacy through the intermediary Pakistan. But that is now in question, given the US president’s statements.

In a second post on his Truth Social platform, the US president claims Iran was “UNWILLING TO GIVE UP ITS NUCLEAR AMBITIONS”.

“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 posted. “IRAN WILL NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON!” Trump wrote. It was widely accepted that diplomacy hadn’t closed after Islamabad, but this announcement of a blockade on the Strait of Hormuz suggests Trump is now taking military action.

It doesn’t sound like an immediate bombardment of Tehran. What is striking, however, is that in order to reopen the strait, he is proposing to close it. It is also notable that Trump says other countries will be involved in the blockade, raising the question of which countries those might be. He then adds that, at an appropriate time, “we are fully locked and loaded”, suggesting a possible second phase involving renewed bombardment. So, there is a clear threat: a blockade first, followed by the threat of further action if Iran does not back down.

Meanwhile, immediately after the Islamabad negotiations failed, President Of Iran Masoud Pezeshkian said that he has held a phone call with his Russian counterpart President Vladimir Putin. Both the head of the states have “reviewed latest regional & international developments”, including the status of the ceasefire, the post said. We had earlier reported on Putin making the call. Russia has long exchanged weapons with Iran and is likely offering satellite support, but it has so far refrained from getting directly involved in the conflict.

Russia has played a key role in the development of Iran’s space programme and its key satellite, the Khayyam. Launched in 2022 from Russia’s Baikonur cosmodrome, the 650kg (1,430 pound) satellite orbits the Earth at 500 kilometres (310 miles) and has a resolution of one metre (3.3 feet).

Russia has, for decades, supplied weaponry to Iran, including advanced air defence systems, trainer and fighter jets, helicopters, armoured vehicles and sniper rifles, worth billions of dollars. Since the US and Israel began their strikes on February 28, Russia has continued aiding Iran with “intelligence, data, experts and components” for weaponry, Lieutenant General Ihor Romanenko, former deputy chief of Ukraine’s general staff of armed forces, told media reporters.

While Russia and Iran loudly proclaim their strategic partnership, they do not have a mutual defence clause, and Moscow has not intervened in the conflict directly. But the arms supplies have been mutual. Since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Tehran has provided Moscow with ammunition and artillery shells, firearms and short-range ballistic missiles, helmets and flak jackets.

Team Maverick.