by WorldTribune Staff, April 13, 2026 Non-AI Real World News
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) on Monday began the naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz (Strait of America?) hours after President Donald Trump issued the orders.
“The blockade will be enforced impartially against vessels of all nations entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas, including all Iranian ports on the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman,” CENTCOM said in a statement.
U.S. military forces won’t interfere with freedom of navigation for vessels traveling in the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway that normally sees roughly a fifth of the world’s oil traffic pass through it, so long as those ships are visiting non-Iranian ports, CENTCOM said.
“Additional information will be provided to commercial mariners through a formal notice prior to the start of the blockade,” according to the statement. “All mariners are advised to monitor Notice to Mariners broadcasts and contact U.S. naval forces on bridge-to-bridge channel 16 when operating in the Gulf of Oman and Strait of Hormuz approaches.”
Trump announced the blockade in a Truth Social post after weekend negotiations between a U.S. delegation led by Vice President JD Vance and an Iranian delegation fell through.
Iran has effectively blocked the strait to commercial traffic since the start of U.S.–Israeli strikes on Iran that began on Feb. 28, leading to significant increases in the price of oil and gas.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claims the strait remained under Iran’s “full control” and was open for non-military vessels, but military ones would get a “forceful response,” two semi-official Iranian news agencies reported.
Trump wrote in a post to Truth Social:
Iran’s Navy is laying at the bottom of the sea, completely obliterated – 158 ships. What we have not hit are their small number of, what they call, “fast attack ships,” because we did not consider them much of a threat. Warning: If any of these ships come anywhere close to our BLOCKADE, they will be immediately ELIMINATED, using the same system of kill that we use against the drug dealers on boats at Sea. It is quick and brutal. P.S. 98.2% of Drugs coming into the U.S. by Ocean or Sea have STOPPED! Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DJT
During negotiations mediated in Pakistan, the U.S. military said two destroyers transited the strait ahead of mine-clearing work, a first since the war began.
The face-to-face talks that ended early Sunday were the highest-level negotiations between the longtime rivals since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
“We need to see an affirmative commitment that they will not seek a nuclear weapon,” said Vance following the talks.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has long said that Teheran’s accumulation of high-grade enriched uranium and denial of access for inspectors to view its nuclear facilities are “serious concerns.”
2026 Contract With Our Readers
Strait of America? CENTCOM plays Trump card, as blockade begins added by Editor Two on
View all posts by Editor Two →