Jauhn Etienne Villaruel

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<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17761249291411775085718699HEgqmPPa0AA2woE.webp" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">US President Donald Trump warned Monday that any Iranian attack boats that approach the American naval blockade around Iran&#x27;s ports would be destroyed, despite international calls for a ceasefire to be respected and negotiations to resume. <em>📷༘ White House/X</em></span></span></span>WASHINGTON, United States — US President Donald Trump warned Monday that any Iranian attack boats that approach the American naval blockade around Iran&#x27;s ports would be destroyed, despite international calls for a ceasefire to be respected and negotiations to resume.</div><p>The US military said the blockade, which took effect at 1400 GMT, applied to all ships leaving or seeking to dock at Iranian harbors.</p><p>In a social media post, Trump said the bulk of Iran&#x27;s navy had already been destroyed during the war, but that if any of what he said were Tehran&#x27;s few remaining &quot;fast attack ships&quot; approach the blockade &quot;they will be immediately ELIMINATED.&quot;</p><p>He also said 34 ships had passed through the strait on Sunday, adding it was the most since the war began, though the figure could not be immediately corroborated.</p><p>Trump announced the blockade on Sunday after a delegation led by Vice President JD Vance returned from a meeting with Iranian officials in Pakistan without securing a deal to end the war, launched on February 28 with US and Israeli strikes on Tehran.</p><p>&quot;I really think the ball is in the Iranian court, because we put a lot on the table. We actually made very clear what our red lines were,&quot; Vance told Fox News on Monday.</p><p>He said Washington must control Iran&#x27;s enriched uranium, and that there must be a verification mechanism to ensure Tehran does not develop a nuclear weapon in the future.</p><p>Last Wednesday, the US and Iran agreed a two-week truce to allow the negotiations to go ahead, and mediator Pakistan and Gulf state Qatar were still calling on Monday for it to be respected as diplomatic efforts continue.</p><p>&quot;The ceasefire is still holding and, as I speak, full efforts are underway to resolve the outstanding issues,&quot; Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif of Pakistan told a cabinet meeting.</p><p>Speaking at the White House, Trump said Iranian representatives had called seeking to make a deal since the Islamabad talks failed, without identifying which officials had called.</p><p>Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi blamed the United States for the impasse in the talks during a call with his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan.</p><p>&quot;Unfortunately, we witnessed the continued excessive demands of the American side in the negotiations, which led to the failure to achieve a result,&quot; his ministry quoted him as saying.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION </strong></div><div><br/></div><p>Qatari Foreign Minister and Premier Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani urged both sides to guarantee freedom of navigation and refrain from using maritime routes &quot;as a tool for pressure,&quot; encouraging Tehran and Washington to remain in touch with mediators.</p><p>Iran had already closed the strait to what it regards as enemy shipping, allowing only vessels serving countries it deems friendly -- such as China -- to cross.</p><p>Analysts suggested the US president was trying to starve Iran of funds but also pressure Beijing, the biggest buyer of Iranian oil, to lean on Tehran to reopen Hormuz.</p><p>Beijing criticized the blockade, with foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun emphasizing the strait&#x27;s importance to trade and saying that &quot;maintaining its security, stability, and unimpeded flow is in the common interest of the international community.&quot;</p><p>UN chief Antonio Guterres also called for freedom of navigation to be respected and pointed to the mariners trapped in the Gulf.</p><p>&quot;We need to remember that some 20,000 seafarers have been caught up in this conflict and are currently stranded on ships, facing increasing hardships daily,&quot; his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.</p><p>US Central Command said the blockade included &quot;vessels of all nations entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas, including all Iranian ports on the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman.&quot;</p><p>US forces would not impede vessels transiting the strait to and from non-Iranian ports, it added.</p><p>Iran&#x27;s military command issued a statement branding the blockade an act of piracy, and warned that if the security of its harbors &quot;is threatened, no port in the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea will be safe&quot;.</p><p>French President Emmanuel Macron said that France and Britain would host a conference with countries prepared to join a &quot;peaceful multinational mission&quot; to secure the strait, but it would be &quot;strictly defensive&quot; and only operational once circumstances permit.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>RUSSIAN OFFER </strong></div><div><br/></div><p>Iran&#x27;s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who led Tehran&#x27;s delegation in Pakistan, has said Tehran will &quot;not bow to any threats,&quot; while navy chief Shahram Irani has called Trump&#x27;s blockade &quot;ridiculous.&quot;</p><p>The strait was far from the only friction point impeding efforts to end the war.</p><p>The US delegation in Islamabad -- led by Vance, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump&#x27;s son-in-law Jared Kushner -- was frustrated by Iran&#x27;s refusal to give up what it insists is a civilian nuclear program.</p><p>Russia has offered to hold Iran&#x27;s enriched uranium safely as part of any deal.</p><p>&quot;The offer still stands, but has not been acted upon,&quot; Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div><div><br/></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEOS</strong></div><div><strong><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cJGU6iTO2KE?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/IhIsnPZFVDI?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4RZKSQYT_ZQ?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></strong></div>

<p>US President Donald Trump warned Monday that any Iranian attack boats that approach the American naval blockade around Iran's ports would be destroyed, despite international calls for a ceasefire to be respected and negotiations to resume. </p>

US President Donald Trump warned Monday that any Iranian attack boats that approach the American naval blockade around Iran's ports would be destroyed, despite international calls for a ceasefire to be respected and negotiations to resume.

Trump vows US will sink any Iran boats that challenge blockade

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Trump vows US will sink any Iran boats that challenge blockade

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Published April 14, 2026 08:03 AM PHT

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