US President Donald Trump declared on Monday that the United States will not lift its naval blockade of Iranian ports until Tehran agrees to a peace deal ending the ongoing conflict. The announcement, made via social media, came as Iran confirmed it would not send a delegation to the second round of high-stakes peace talks scheduled for Monday in Islamabad, Pakistan.
“The blockade, which we will not take off until there is a ‘deal,’ is absolutely destroying Iran,” Trump wrote. “They are losing $500 million … a day, an unsustainable number, even in the short run.”
Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has ground to a halt as both Washington and Tehran enforce separate blockades. The waterway, a critical chokepoint for global oil shipments, has been at the centre of the crisis since the US-Israeli campaign against Iran began on 28 February.
Ship Seizure Escalates Tensions
Iran’s decision to skip the Islamabad talks followed a US Navy operation on Sunday in which American forces intercepted and seized an Iranian-flagged cargo vessel, the Touska, near the Strait of Hormuz. Trump claimed the ship had attempted to evade the blockade. “A US Navy guided missile destroyer in the Gulf of Oman warned them to halt and then stopped them right in their tracks by blowing a hole in the engine room,” he posted. US Marines have taken custody of the vessel and are inspecting its cargo.
Tehran’s joint military command condemned the boarding as an “act of piracy” and a violation of the fragile ceasefire, which is set to expire in days. The incident marks the first interception by the US Navy since it began blockading Iranian ports last week, in response to Tehran’s earlier closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
The seizure has thrown the fate of the truce into doubt. Trump had repeatedly claimed in recent days that the war was “close to over,” but the latest move contradicts that narrative. Iranian state media reported that President Masoud Pezeshkian, in a phone call with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday, accused Washington of “bullying and unreasonable behaviour” that has “led to increased suspicion that Washington will repeat previous patterns and betray diplomacy.”
The crisis has sent oil prices soaring. Brent crude, the international benchmark, opened at $95 (€80) per barrel on Monday, up from the $91–92 range that held during most of the ceasefire. The spike deepens an already dire global energy price crisis, one of the worst in decades, with ripple effects across European economies heavily reliant on imported energy.
European leaders are watching the situation closely. The US-Iran ceasefire on brink of collapse has direct implications for energy security and diplomatic stability in Europe. Meanwhile, Turkey hosted middle powers in Antalya last week to explore alternative trade routes, underscoring the continent’s urgency to reduce dependence on the Hormuz corridor.
The UN Maritime Chief has asserted there is no legal basis for blocking the Strait of Hormuz, a position that adds international legal pressure on both sides. As the ceasefire deadline approaches, the question remains whether diplomacy can prevail or whether the region is sliding back into open conflict.
