Donald Trump has said the US will begin blockading the strait of Hormuz in an attempt to take control of the strategic waterway from Iran in the aftermath of failed peace negotiations between the countries in Pakistan.
The US president also threatened to bomb Iran’s water treatment facilities as well as its power plants and bridges, repeating an earlier threat, if Tehran did not agree to abandon its nuclear weapons programme – the key sticking point between the two sides.
Trump’s surprise announcement of a blockade came after 21 hours of face-to-face peace negotiations between the US and Iran in Islamabad collapsed on Sunday morning.
JD Vance, the vice-president and head of the US team, said Iran had refused to give up the possibility of developing nuclear weapons, while the Iranian delegates said Washington needed to do more to win their trust.
Trump says US will blockade strait of Hormuz as Iran peace talks fail
Risking another increase in oil prices, Trump said he had instructed the US navy to begin “blockading any and all ships trying to enter, or leave, the strait of Hormuz” – and accused Iran of extortion with its own scheme of charging tolls to tankers.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards responded by declaring that if any warships approached the strait to enforce a blockade – usually considered an act of war – it would be considered a breach of the current ceasefire and would be strongly dealt with. They insisted the strait remained under Iranian control.
US lawmakers split on party lines over negotiations’ failure to end Iran war
The failure of negotiations to end the US war with Iran has unleashed a barrage of starkly partisan political responses, with leading Republicans making hawkish calls for Donald Trump to “finish the job” while top Democrats warned that it would be disastrous for the president to resume hostilities.
Donald Trump and Marco Rubio watch UFC fights in Miami as peace talks with Iran fail
Donald Trump and US secretary of state Marco Rubio attended a UFC event in Miami on Saturday night as peace talks with Iran failed on the other side of the world.
“The Secretary of State skipped the Iran negotiations in Pakistan to attend a UFC fight. So did the Special Envoy for South and Central Asia, while Pakistan has no confirmed U.S. ambassador,” the House Democrats Foreign Affairs Committee wrote on X. “Tens of thousands of Americans are in harm’s way. Gas prices are rising. This is not serious leadership. It’s amateur hour.”
Ex-CIA director calls for ousting Trump: ‘25th amendment was written with him in mind’
The former Central Intelligence Agency director John Brennan has added his name to growing calls for the president to be ousted on grounds that he is unfit for the job, arguing that the US constitution’s 25th amendment addressing involuntary removal from office was “written with Donald Trump in mind”.
Hungarian opposition ousts Viktor Orbán after 16 years in power
Hungary’s opposition Tisza party, led by Péter Magyar, has won national elections, bringing an end to Viktor Orbán’s 16-year grip on power, in a result that is likely to rattle the White House.
Days before the election, JD Vance had travelled to Budapest, with the US vice-president saying that he had come to “help” Orbán. Donald Trump had also repeatedly endorsed Orbán, most recently on Friday when he vowed to bring US “economic might” to the country if Orbán was re-elected.
Catching up? Here’s what happened Saturday 11 April.