The United States further clarified its blockade plan for Iranian ports on Monday, April 13th. The command warned in a notice that vessels violating the relevant measures may be detained.
The US Central Command reiterated in the notice that the blockade measures officially began at 10 a.m. Eastern Time.
The notice stated that the US military blockade includes ports located east of the Strait of Hormuz in Iran, including the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea, covering the entire Iranian coastline.
The Central Command stated in the notice that neutral vessels traveling to and from non-Iranian destinations can still pass through the Strait of Hormuz freely but may be subject to inspections to rule out prohibited goods. Additionally, humanitarian supplies such as food and medicine essential for civilian survival are allowed passage after inspection.
Iran has stated that if its own shipping hub is threatened, it will target all ports within and near the Persian Gulf. Iran has controlled the Strait of Hormuz for most of the conflict. Approximately one-third of global trade shipping passes through here annually, and Iran claims to have placed sea mines in certain areas.
President Trump warned in a “Truth Social” post on Monday that any Iranian armed fast boats approaching the blockade line would be “destroyed immediately.”
“The Iranian navy is lying at the bottom of the sea, with a total of 158 ships destroyed. What we haven’t targeted are their few so-called ‘fast attack ship groups,’ as we did not consider them a significant threat before,” Trump further stated in the post. “Warning: if any of these ships come near our blockade line, they will be destroyed immediately.”
Over the weekend, the 21-hour marathon peace talks between the US and Iran held in Pakistan ultimately collapsed. Vice President Vance confirmed that the US’s bottom line is that Iran must completely abandon its nuclear weapons program, a demand which Iran rejected as the “final and best solution.” President Trump then announced the US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
Prior to the breakdown of the negotiations, Iran had de facto control of the strait and was demanding high “passage fees” from passing vessels (reportedly up to $2 million per ship). Trump accused this on “Truth Social” as “global extortion” and instructed the US military to intercept any vessels that had paid illegal fees to Iran.
“Any vessels paying illegal tolls will lose their right to safe passage on the high seas,” Trump said.
The table below, based on data from the US Naval Institute as of April 6th, lists the main assets deployed by the US military in the region: