The United States will begin blocking all inbound and outbound maritime traffic in Iranian ports starting Monday, April 13, at 10:00 AM ET (15:00 GMT), announced the country's Central Command of the Armed Forces (Centcom) on Sunday.
Who will be denied passage through the Strait of Hormuz?
"The blockade will be applied impartially to vessels of all nations that enter or leave ports and coastal areas of Iran, including all Iranian ports in the Arabian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman," Centcom stated in a press release.
U.S. forces "will not impede the freedom of navigation for vessels transiting through the Strait of Hormuz to and from non-Iranian ports," the note clarified.
The United States advised commercial mariners to follow the broadcasts of the Navigational Warnings and to contact U.S. naval forces on bridge-to-bridge channel 16 when operating in the Gulf of Oman and in the approaches to the Strait of Hormuz.
Why will the U.S. block access to Iranian ports?
Centcom's announcement came after U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday, April 12, that the United States would block the Strait of Hormuz, accusing Iran of maintaining its "nuclear ambitions" after peace negotiations in Pakistan concluded without an agreement.
"Effective immediately, the United States Navy, the best in the world, will begin to block all vessels that attempt to enter or exit the Strait of Hormuz," he wrote on his Truth Social network.
Iran has kept this strategic route, through which a fifth of the world's oil passes, closed in retaliation for the U.S. and Israeli offensive initiated on February 28 against the Islamic Republic.
