US begins blockade of Hormuz, Iran defiant
The US military says it is enforcing a blockade against vessels of all countries entering or leaving Iranian ports in the Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.
Source: Bloomberg
US President Donald Trump says America will enforce a “system of kill” to eliminate Iranian vessels approaching the blockade that has begun in the Strait of Hormuz.
The blockade involves stopping ships leaving Iran’s ports and blocking any vessels and ships that pay Iranian tolls.
US Central Command said the measure took effect from 10am ET on Monday (midnight AEST on Tuesday), with Trump claiming 34 vessels were transiting the strait — “by far the highest number since this foolish closure began”.
Trump said the US had previously “obliterated” Iran’s navy but what it had not yet hit was its “fast attack ships”.
They will be targeted during the blockade.
“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!”.
Iran said any US restrictions on international shipping was “piracy” and warned that if Iranian ports were threatened, no port in the Gulf or Gulf of Oman would be secure.
Any military vessels approaching the strait would violate the ceasefire, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said.
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Since the war started on February 28, Iran has largely shut the strait to vessels except its own, saying passage would be permitted only under Iranian control and subject to a fee.
Trump followed up his online spray against the Pope by posting this AI-generated image of himself.
Meanwhile, Trump deleted a picture he had posted of himself wearing a biblical-style robe and laying hands on a bedridden man, which drew fierce backlash from all sides over its similarities to Jesus.
Trump claimed on Tuesday (AEST) that the AI-image was supposed to depict him as a “doctor making people better”.
“And I do make people better. I make people a lot better,” he said.
Trump originally posted the picture after delivering an extraordinary broadside against Pope Leo.
Trump said he did not think the US-born leader of the Catholic Church was “doing a very good job” and that “he’s a very liberal person,” while also suggesting the pontiff should “stop catering to the Radical Left”.
On Tuesday (AEST) the Pope pushed back at Trump’s attack against him over the US-Israel war in Iran. He said he had “no fear of the Trump administration” and would continue to speak out for peace.
History’s first US-born pope stressed that he was not making a direct attack on Trump or anyone else with his general appeal for peace and criticisms of the “delusion of omnipotence” that was fuelling the Iran wars and other conflicts around the world.
“I will not enter into debate. The things that I say are certainly not meant as attacks on anyone. The message of the Gospel is very clear: ‘Blessed are the peacemakers’,” Leo said.
“I will not shy away from announcing the message of the Gospel and inviting all people to look for ways of building bridges of peace and reconciliation, and looking for ways to avoid war any time that’s possible.”
The unholy row was triggered when the Pope presided over an evening prayer service in St Peter’s Basilica on Saturday (local time), the same day the US and Iran began negotiations in Pakistan during a fragile ceasefire.
The Pope did not mention the US or Trump by name, but his tone and message appeared directed at Trump and US officials, who have boasted of US military superiority and justified the war in religious terms.
US blockade
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The US military’s regional Central Command said the Strait of Hormuz blockade would be “enforced impartially against vessels of all nations” entering or leaving Iranian ports in the Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.
“The blockade will not impede neutral transit passage through the Strait of Hormuz to or from non-Iranian destinations,” Central Command said in a note to seafarers.
Two Iranian-linked tankers, the Aurora and New Future, laden with oil products, left the strait on Monday before the deadline, according to LSEG data.
An Iranian military spokesperson called any US restrictions on international shipping “piracy”, and warned that if Iranian ports were threatened, no port in the Gulf or Gulf of Oman would be secure.
Any military vessels approaching the strait would violate the ceasefire, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said.
On Sunday, Trump had posted on social media that ships paying Iran an “illegal toll” would not be granted safe passage, adding, “Any Iranian who fires at us, or at peaceful vessels, will be BLOWN TO HELL!”
Israel has continued to bombard Iran-aligned Hezbollah in Lebanon and on Monday Israeli troops launched an attack to seize a key south Lebanon town from the group.
Israel and the US have said the campaign against Hezbollah was not part of the ceasefire while Iran has insisted it is.
Iran has ignored a demand to open the strait while bringing new demands to the talks, including recognition of its control of the waterway, lifting of sanctions and the withdrawal of forces from US military bases across the Middle East.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said efforts were still on to resolve the conflict after failed talks between the US and Iran in Islamabad at the weekend.
Trump has declared victory despite appearing not to have achieved objectives he set out at the start of the war: To eliminate Iran’s ability to strike its neighbours, end its nuclear program and make it easier for Iranians to topple their government.
Iran retains missiles and drones that can hit Gulf neighbours and a stockpile of uranium enriched to near bomb-making levels.
Iran’s leadership, which faced a popular uprising at the start of the year, has withstood the US onslaught with no sign of organised opposition.
Emboldened Iranian officials say they will make a deal only if the US makes further concessions.
Iran had “encountered maximalism, shifting goalposts and blockade” from the US at the talks, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said.
“Zero lessons learned,” he said.
“Good will begets good will. Enmity begets enmity.”
-with AAP
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