- By Shubham Bajpai
- Sun, 12 Apr 2026 10:14 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
United States President Donald Trump on Sunday announced to impose a blockade in the Strait of Hormuz against what he called Iran’s ‘extortion’ by laying mines to effectively close it for vessels.
In a long and bold post on Truth Social, he said the blockade would start “shortly”. His statement was in response to a deadlock in negotiations between the US and Iran in Islamabad.
As Iran continues to maintain control over the Strait, questions have been raised about how Washington will render it toothless and enforce its own blockade instead.
In a conversation with Fox News, the US President said that it would take a little while, but the Hormuz blockade will be imposed and that minesweepers have already been deployed.
"So we have minesweepers there now. We have highly sophisticated underwater minesweepers, which are the latest and greatest. But we're also bringing in more traditional minesweepers," Trump said.
Making a huge claim, he said that the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) is ready to help the US with the Strait of Hormuz.
"We think that numerous countries are going to be helping the US with this," he added. The US President said that the country’s allies in the Gulf are already helping with the problem in the Strait.
Since the start of strikes by the US and Israel on February 28, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy has maintained an effective closure of the Strait, using its separate fleet of small boats and sea mines.
These mines have raised deterrence and given an edge to Tehran over its enemies. A US blockade against Iran would need to ensure that mines are removed.
Speaking about removing mines, Trump said that the US is bringing in more traditional minesweepers, adding, "Understand Britain and other nations are also sending minesweepers."