A U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz took effect at 10 a.m. EDT. It was not immediately clear if the U.S. Navy ships had begun their operation.
On Sunday, Mr. Trump, in a Truth Social post, said that he had instructed the Navy to “seek and interdict every vessel in International Waters that has paid a toll to Iran,” and that the U.S. would begin “destroying the mines the Iranians laid in the Straits.”
“Any Iranian who fires at us, or at peaceful vessels, will be BLOWN TO HELL!” he added.
The threat sparked swift condemnation from Iran and other world leaders. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said the strait remained under Iran’s “full control” and was open for non-military vessels, but military ones would get a “forceful response,” two Iranian news agencies reported.
The move came after marathon negotiations between the U.S. and Iran, with Pakistani mediators, failed to result in an agreement.
The U.S. military currently has the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, 11 destroyers and the USS Tripoli amphibious group operating in the Middle East, which could be part of the naval blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, the Navy told CBS News.
The Navy did not share more detailed locations, describing them as being in the North Arabian Sea and in the Red Sea.
The USS Gerald Ford and other destroyers are deployed in the Mediterranean.
U.S. Central Command on Sunday said two guided-missile destroyers – the USS Frank E. Peterson and the USS Michael Murphy – crossed through the Strait of Hormuz “as part of a broader mission to ensure the strait is fully clear of sea mines previously laid by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.”
