Trump vows to hit Iran's ships as Hormuz blockade takes effect

Kate Sullivan, Skylar Woodhouse and Alex Longley, Bloomberg News on Apr 13, 2026

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President Donald Trump said the U.S. would attack any Iranian vessels that approach U.S. ships in the Strait of Hormuz, as his naval blockade of the vital waterway took effect Monday.

“Warning: If any of these ships come anywhere close to our BLOCKADE, they will be immediately ELIMINATED,” Trump said in a social-media post. He said the U.S. would use the same tactics it did against alleged drug-running boats in the Caribbean Sea in recent months.

Trump’s blockade will test the durability of a fragile ceasefire with Iran and intensifies a global energy crisis in a six-week war that’s seen thousands of deaths across the region. It marked the latest move by Trump to strong-arm Iran to ease its own chokehold over the strait after talks in Pakistan on extending the ceasefire failed to reach a deal.

Iran has said it would target all ports in the Persian Gulf if its own shipping hubs are threatened, setting up a fresh standoff in the vital waterway that typically sees flows of about a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas.

Oil prices soared as investors braced for further supply shortages. Prices remained choppy, though, as trading costs surged and curtailed activity. Brent crude traded near $100 per barrel while May U.S. crude futures traded near $101 a barrel.

The security of ports in the region is “either for everyone or for no one,” Iran’s armed forces said in a statement on Monday, according to the state-run IRIB News. The U.S. blocking the strait would be “an act of piracy,” it said, reiterating plans to permanently control the critical waterway even after the war.

Shortly before the deadline, the U.S. published a notice to vessels in the region saying that it would intercept, divert or capture vessels leaving Iran after that time. The note said that neutral ships that haven’t called at Iran would not be impeded, though they may be searched for contraband cargo.

A U.K. naval group that liaises between the military and shipping said it had been informed of the restrictions and added that additional guidelines, including routing, verification and authorized transit procedures were being developed.

The negotiations in Islamabad broke down due to differences over the future of Iran’s nuclear program, according to U.S. officials. Neither side has committed to another round of negotiations. Iran has countered that the U.S. failed to earn its trust in negotiations.

“The U.S. must learn: you can’t dictate terms to Iran,” Iran’s former foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, posted on X. “It’s not too late to learn. Yet.”

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—With assistance from Laura Davison and Devika Krishna Kumar.