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The US could blockade Iran if negotiations for a peace deal fail, President Trump has indicated.
On Truth Social this morning, President Trump reposted a new article that suggested Trump could use a naval blockade to weaken the Iranian regime, just as he did with Venezuela before ousting President Nicolas Maduro.
“If Iran refuses to accept the final deal the United States offered Saturday, Trump could bomb Tehran back to the ‘Stone Ages’ as he vowed,” the article states.
“Or he might just reprise his successful blockade strategy to choke an already teetering Iranian economy and ratchet up diplomatic pressure on China and India by cutting them off one of their key sources of oil.
“Ironically, the massive USS Gerald Ford carrier that led the Venezuelan blockade is now in the Persian Gulf after a brief hiatus for repairs and crew rest after a deadly fire. And now it joins the USS Abraham Lincoln and other major naval assets.
“In short, Trump simply could out-blockade Iran’s hold over the Strait of Hormuz, experts said.”
President Trump offered no comment on the article, merely reposting it—but the implication was clear.
On Saturday, Vice President JD Vance arrived in Pakistan to negotiate with the Iranians.
After nearly a full day of negotiation, in a terse statement Vance said the Iranian delegation had rejected US terms.
“We have been at it now for 21 hours, and we’ve had a number of substantive discussions with the Iranians. That’s the good news,” Vance said.
“The bad news is that we have not reached an agreement, and I think that’s bad news for Iran much more than it’s bad news for the United States of America.”
The talks began four days after President Donald Trump agreed a two-week ceasefire with Iran.
According to Vance, the main stumbling block was Iran’s refusal to abandon its nuclear ambitions.
“The simple question is, do we see a fundamental commitment of will for the Iranians not to develop a nuclear weapon, not just now, not just two years from now, but for the long term. We haven’t seen that yet. We hope that we will,” Vance said.
Before the meeting, Iran submitted a list of ten proposals. President Trump did not agree to the proposals, but said they were a “workable basis” for negotiations.
Vance ended his remarks to the press by saying, “We’ve made very clear what our red lines are, what things we’re willing to accommodate them on, and what things we’re not willing to accommodate them on.”
