The US set out on Monday to intercept ships leaving Iranian ports or heading to Iran through the strait of Hormuz, ostensibly to increase US leverage in peace negotiations with Tehran.
The blockade, which went into effect at 10am ET (14:00 GMT) Monday, ought to force Tehran to make a deal with the US and reopen the strait of Hormuz, President Donald Trump told reporters on Monday.
Trump — as he has done on many occasions since the war with Iran started on 28 February — claimed that Iran in fact became more pliable following his decision to enforce a blockade. "We've been called this morning by the right people, the appropriate people, and they want to work a deal," he said, without offering any details.
Senior US and Iranian officials failed to make a breakthrough in marathon talks over the weekend in Islamabad, Pakistan. From the US' perspective, the key stumbling block is Iran's nuclear program. "Iran will not have a nuclear weapon, and we agreed to a lot of things, but they didn't agree to that," Trump said.
"And I think they will agree to it. I'm almost sure of it. In fact, I am sure of it. If they don't agree, there's no deal, there'll never be a deal."
Iran has warned it could target ports across the Mideast Gulf if its own facilities are attacked as a result of US naval operations, describing US plans to impose a blockade on Iranian ports as "piracy".
Tankers from neutral countries that are currently loading Iranian cargo have been granted a grace period to get through the US' announced blockade, according to the UK Maritime Trade Operations. As much as 36pc of all tanker traffic transiting the strait of Hormuz since the start of the US–Iran war either departed or were bound for Iranian ports.
In Trump's words, Tehran's ability to prevent non-Iranian trade from transiting Hormuz is detrimental — "They're really blackmailing the world. We're not going to let that happen." — but also not affecting the US very much. "We don't use this trade," Trump said. "We have our own oil and gas much more than we need. We have more oil and gas than Saudi Arabia."
Trump earlier on Monday posted on his social media platform that "34 Ships went through the Strait of Hormuz yesterday, which is by far the highest number since this foolish closure began."
Trump told reporters that other countries have offered to help enforce the blockade even though "we don't need other countries". He said he would announce on Tuesday which countries will join the US in enforcing the blockade.
The UK and France said on Monday they would co-host a summit with more than 40 countries participating to discuss how to safeguard shipping through Hormuz, adding that their participation will begin "when the conflict ends".
Trump, who last month said he expected the war to end within "four to six weeks", said on Monday that he would stick to his original timeline. "Right now there's no fighting. Right now we have a blockade. They're doing no business."
The US and Iran agreed to a ceasefire through 21 April to allow for diplomatic talks to hash out a deal.
Iran's military capacity has been obliterated, Trump said. "Their navy is gone, their air force is gone, their anti aircraft is gone, their radar is gone, and their leaders are gone."
But in a social media post Monday morning, Trump acknowledged that Iran has retained its fleet of speedboats, warning that "If any of these ships come anywhere close to our BLOCKADE, they will be immediately ELIMINATED."
