Top updates: Trump says US will blockade Strait of Hormuz as Iran talks fail

United States President Donald Trump on Sunday said that the US Navy will blockade ships trying to enter or leave the Strait of Hormuz.

“Other countries will be involved with this blockade,” he claimed on social media, adding that Iran “will not be allowed to profit off this illegal act of extortion”.

Trump said that he has instructed the US Navy to “seek and interdict every vessel in international waters that has paid a toll” to Tehran. “No one who pays an illegal toll will have safe passage on the high seas,” he said.

He added that the US “will also begin destroying the mines the Iranians laid” in the strategic waterway. “Any Iranian who fires at us, or at peaceful vessels, will be blown to hell!” Trump said.

Trump’s remarks came hours after the US’ peace talks with Iran in Pakistani capital Islamabad concluded without an agreement to end the war in West Asia.

Washington and Tehran had on Wednesday agreed to a two-week ceasefire to allow further negotiations to end the conflict. While Israel, which was not involved in the talks, has not struck Iran since the ceasefire took effect, it has continued to attack Lebanon.

Here are more top updates from the conflict in West Asia:

• The Strait of Hormuz blockade: In a social media...

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