Oil tankers and cargo ships line up in the Strait of Hormuz as seen from Khor Fakkan, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri,File)2026-04-13T03:55:11Z CAIRO (AP) The U.S. military announced it will begin a blockade of all Iranian ports and coastal areas on Monday, tempering President Donald Trump s earlier vow to entirely block the strategic Strait of Hormuz as early reports indicated that ships had stopped crossing the waterway.The move came after marathon U.S.-Iran ceasefire talks in Pakistan ended without an agreement, and it set the stage for a showdown. Iranian leaders vowed to counter the blockade.U.S. Central Command announced the blockade would begin on Monday at 10 a.m. EDT, or 5:30 p.m. in Iran, and would be enforced impartially against vessels of all nations entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas, including all Iranian ports on the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman. CENTCOM said it would still allow ships traveling between non-Iranian ports to transit the strait, a step down from the presidents earlier threat to blockade the entire strait. The announcement of the blockade halted the limited ship traffic that resumed in the strait since the ceasefire, said an early report from Lloyds List intelligence. Marine trackers say over 40 commercial ships have crossed since the start of the ceasefire, down from roughly 100 to 135 vessel passages per day before the war. Later Sunday, Trump extended his feud over the war with Pope Leo XIV, lashing out in a Truth Social post that called the Catholic leader terrible on foreign policy. The extraordinary broadside came after Leo denounced the war and demanded that political leaders stop and negotiate peace. The blockade could have far-reaching effectsThe blockage is likely intended to add pressure on Iran, which has exported millions of barrels of oil since the war began, much of it likely carried by so-called dark transits that evade Western government sanctions and oversight.Trump also hopes to undercut Irans control over the Strait of Hormuz after demanding that it reopen the waterway where 20% of global oil transited before fighting began. A U.S. blockade could further rattle global energy markets.Oil prices rose in early market trading after the blockade announcement. The price of U.S. crude rose 8% to $104.24 a barrel, and Brent crude oil, the international standard, rose 7% to $102.29. Brent crude cost roughly $70 per barrel before the war in late February. Read More Iran says if you fight, we will fightA chorus of top-ranking Iranian officials threatened retaliation. Mohsen Rezaei, a military adviser and a former Revolutionary Guard Commander, wrote on X that the countrys armed forces had major untouched levers to counter a Hormuz blockade. He said Iran would not be coerced by tweets and imaginary plans.Iranian parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, who led Irans side in the talks, addressed Trump in a statement on his return to Iran: If you fight, we will fight.Irans Revolutionary Guard later said the strait remained under Irans full control and was open for non-military vessels, but military ones would get a forceful response, two semi-official Iranian news agencies reported.During the 21-hour talks this weekend in Pakistan, the U.S. military said two destroyers had transited the strait ahead of mine-clearing work, a first since the war began. Iran denied it. No word on what happens after ceasefire expiresThe face-to-face talks that ended early Sunday were the highest-level negotiations between the longtime rivals since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.Trump said Tehrans nuclear ambitions were the core reason for the talks failure. In comments to Fox News, he again threatened to strike civilian infrastructure if it didnt give up its nuclear program.In one half of a day they wouldnt have one bridge standing, they wouldnt have one electric generating plant standing, and theyre back in the stone ages, Trump said. Vice President JD Vance, who led the U.S. side in the talks, said Washington would need an affirmative commitment that they will not seek a nuclear weapon.Iranian negotiators could not agree to all U.S. red lines, said a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to describe positions on the record. Those red lines included Iran never obtaining a nuclear weapon, ending uranium enrichment, dismantling major enrichment facilities and allowing retrieval of its highly enriched uranium, along with opening the Strait of Hormuz and ending funding for Hamas, Hezbollah and Houthi rebels. Iranian officials said talks fell apart over two or three key issues, blaming what they called U.S. overreach. Qalibaf, who noted progress in negotiations, said it was time for the United States to decide whether it can gain our trust or not.Irans foreign minister claimed that the U.S. tanked the negotiations when they were within inches of an agreement, but did not provide evidence. We encountered maximalism, shifting goalposts, and blockade, wrote Abbas Araghchi on X. Neither Iran nor the U.S. indicated what will happen after the ceasefire expires on April 22.Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said his country will try to facilitate a new dialogue in the coming days. Iran said it was open to continuing dialogue, state-run IRNA news agency reported. Irans nuclear program is a key sticking pointIrans nuclear program was at the center of tensions long before the U.S. and Israel launched the war on Feb. 28. The fighting has killed at least 3,000 people in Iran, 2,055 in Lebanon, 23 in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states, and damaged infrastructure in half a dozen countries.Tehran has long denied seeking nuclear weapons but insists on its right to a civilian nuclear program. The landmark 2015 nuclear deal, which Trump later pulled the U.S. out of, took well over a year of negotiations. Experts say Irans stockpile of enriched uranium, though not weapons-grade, is only a short technical step away.___Metz reported from Ramallah, West Bank, Boak from Miami and Magdy from Cairo. Associated Press writers E. Eduardo Castillo in Beijing; Collin Binkley and Ben Finley in Washington; Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut; Brian Melley in London; Ghaya Ben MBarek in Tunis; Hannah Schoenbaum in Salt Lake City and Julia Frankel and Mae Anderson in New York contributed to this report. SAMY MAGDY Magdy is a Middle East reporter for The Associated Press, based in Cairo. He focuses on conflict, migration and human rights abuses. twitter facebook mailto