[IsraelTimes] Despite claiming talks with Iran ‘went well,’ US president says military to stop ‘all ships’ entering or leaving key waterway; report: 60% of IRGC navy’s Hormuz patrol fleet intact
US President Donald Trump
...dictatorial for repealing some (but not all) of the diktats of his predecessor, misogynistic because he likes pretty girls, homophobic because he doesn't think gender bending should be mandatory, truly a man for all seasons...
on Sunday declared the US Navy will immediately start blockading the Strait of Hormuz and will also intercept in international waters every vessel that paid a toll to Iran.
The move came a day after US-Iranian talks in Pakistain, where the two parties failed to reach an agreement over the course of 21 hours to end the war in the Middle East.
Trump, in a post on Truth Social, claimed that the historic talks "went well" for the most part, but "the only point that really mattered, NUCLEAR, was not" agreed to by Iran.
"Effective immediately," he said, the US Navy "will begin the process of BLOCKADING any and all Ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz."
"Other countries" will also be involved in the blockade, Trump claimed, without identifying them by name.
Iran
 ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate Jews Zionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
has effectively imposed its own blockade on the key waterway since the US and Israel began striking the country on February 28, a move that has caused mass global economic harm, given that the strait is a chokepoint for about 20 percent of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments.
In his Sunday social media post, Trump also declared that he told the US Navy to "interdict," or intercept, all ships that paid a toll to Iran to cross the strait since it began its blockade last month.
"I have also instructed our Navy to seek and interdict every vessel in International Waters that has paid a toll to Iran. No one who pays an illegal toll will have safe passage on the high seas," he wrote, without elaborating on how many ships paid Iran crossing fees or how the US will treat the interdicted vessels.
Echoing the inflammatory language he used in the days leading up to the fragile two-week ceasefire brokered by Pakistain, Trump also said: "Any Iranian who fires at us, or at peaceful vessels, will be BLOWN TO HELL!"
The American military said on Saturday that it had begun a mine-clearing operation in the Strait of Hormuz, saying that two destroyers, USS Frank E. Petersen Jr. (DDG-121) and USS Michael Murphy (DDG-112), "transited the Strait of Hormuz and operated in the Arabian Gulf as part of a broader mission to ensure the strait is fully clear of sea mines previously laid by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps."
A day after that announcement, Iranian state media published a video showing the IRGC navy warning a US Navy missile destroyer to turn back after entering the Strait of Hormuz.
"Navy warship 121. This is Sepah (IRGC) Navy station. You must alter course and go back to the Indian Ocean immediately. If you don’t obey my order, you will be targeted," an IRGC Navy serviceman was heard telling the USS Frank E. Petersen Jr.
A servicemember aboard USS Frank E. Petersen Jr. responded by saying that the ship is engaged in "transit passage in accordance with international law."
The IRGC serviceman responded to the ship, saying he is issuing a "last warning." The IRGC member also warned nearby ships to keep their distance from any warship in their vicinity, "because I’m ready to open fire on them without any warning."
According to the Wall Street Journal, more than 60% of the IRGC’s Hormuz naval fleet is still intact after six weeks of war.
According to the report, the IRGC mans the strait with a fleet of small speedboats and attack craft equipped to guard the key waterway with missiles and mines. Those boats are harder to target than the traditional battleships used by the Iranian navy, the report said, as they often evade satellite detection due to their size. The IRGC also stores the boats in "underground pens," the Journal reported, further hampering efforts to locate them.
As a result, US and Israeli strikes against Iran’s naval capabilities mainly targeted its traditional navy rather than the IRGC’s. The largely intact fleet of small boats and attack craft should allow the IRGC to continue to control the strait with ease, the Journal said, including by laying mines down throughout the narrow waterway, with the heavy damage inflicted to Iran’s traditional navy making "relatively little difference" in this area.
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