US President Donald Trump announced today (Sunday) a dramatic escalation in the conflict with Iran - and announced that he is imposing a full naval blockade on the Strait of Hormuz.
The move comes just hours after reports of the failure of the round of talks between the US and Iranian delegations in the Pakistani capital, and after the White House made it clear that it will not tolerate the collection of illegal transit fees in the international waters of the Strait.
The president wrote in a post he published on his social media: "Immediately, the United States Navy, the best in the world, will begin the process of a naval blockade of any vessel attempting to enter or exit the Strait of Hormuz.
""I have also ordered our navy to search for and stop any vessel in international waters that has paid a toll to Iran. Anyone who pays an illegal toll will not enjoy safe passage on the high seas. We will also begin destroying the mines that the Iranians have placed in the straits. Any Iranian that fires at us, or at civilian vessels, will be bombed to the ground!""
The president added: "Iran knows, better than anyone else, how to end this situation that has already destroyed their country. Their navy is gone, their air force is gone, their anti-aircraft and radar systems are useless, Khamenei, and most of their 'leaders', are dead - and all because of their nuclear ambitions.".
""Additional countries will be involved in this blockade. Iran will not be allowed to profit from this illegal act of blackmail. They want money, and more importantly - they want a nuclear weapon. In addition, and at the appropriate moment, we will be 'ready and alert', and our military will finish off what is left of Iran.".
Following the dramatic move, the cabinet has limited time for discussion this evening.
In an interview he gave to Fox News today, the president referred to the naval blockade and the failure of the talks in Pakistan: "They (the Iranians) entered the talks as if they had the cards in their hands, but their entire country is destroyed. All they have left to do is lay mines (in the Strait of Hormuz). This is blackmail. Towards the end of the talks yesterday, it was very friendly and we reached agreement on almost every issue except their willingness to give up nuclear weapons, and for me that is the most important thing.".
""There will come a time when all ships can go in and out (of the strait). Not just friendly countries (to Iran). It's all or nothing. We're moving ships there and imposing a full blockade. We're not going to allow Iran to profit from selling oil to countries they like. It's going to be very similar to what we did in Venezuela.".
""My statement about the destruction of civilization is what brought the Iranians to the negotiating table. For years they have been chanting 'Death to America, Death to Israel.' Did anyone complain about that? The people we negotiated with yesterday were very smart and very good. I estimate that they will come back to the negotiating table and give us everything. I told our mediators that they will not give up anything. The Iranians have no cards.".
The president threatened: "I can eliminate Iran in one day. In one hour I can destroy all their power generation facilities. I took down one bridge for them just to show them. Now they are behaving pretty well. I could take them back to the Stone Age, but I don't want to do that. I believe they will return to negotiations. If they don't give up the nuclear program, we will be hit in Iran. There are a few more missile production facilities and we will take care of them. We needed another week or so to take the remaining missile factories out of service.".
