ROB SCHMITZ, HOST:
President Trump says the U.S. will blockade the Strait of Hormuz, a move that further escalates tensions with Iran. The president made his declaration in a social media post this morning, just hours after peace talks between the U.S. and Iran failed to produce a breakthrough. For a closer look, we're joined by NPR national security correspondent Greg Myre in Washington. Hey, Greg.
GREG MYRE, BYLINE: Hi, Rob.
SCHMITZ: So, Greg, what does this blockade mean for the ceasefire in the Iran war?
MYRE: Well, it could certainly continue to hold, and so far, the ceasefire is still holding through its fifth day. But just a day after these U.S.-Iran peace talks in Pakistan, Trump's announcement certainly ratchets up tensions and certainly doesn't improve the atmosphere for any further negotiations. Trump first announced this blockade in his Truth Social post, and then he spoke about it in an interview on Fox News.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: But we're putting on a complete blockade. And we're not going to let Iran make money on selling oil to people that they like and not people that they don't like or whatever it is.
MYRE: So the president didn't give a lot of details, and Iran has only offered a limited response. The Revolutionary Guards say if a warship approaches the strait, it would be viewed as a ceasefire violation, and Iran would deliver a severe response.
SCHMITZ: A severe response - I mean, how would the U.S. enforce this blockade?
MYRE: Yeah. The president didn't really give much detail aside from noting that he wants it to take effect soon. We know the U.S. Navy has a sizable presence in the region, perhaps somewhere around 20 ships, including an aircraft carrier with dozens of fighter jets. Now, Iran is believed to have placed mines in the strait, and a U.S. official, who's not authorized to speak publicly, told NPR's Tom Bowman that minesweepers will also be used as part of the blockade.
So there's been limited traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, and the U.S. Navy could certainly keep track of a few massive, slow-moving, unarmed commercial ships. However, there are a lot of unknowns, Rob. You know, will any ships try to break a U.S. blockade? And if so, how will the U.S. military respond? And what will Iran do? Will it try to double down on its effective closure of the strait?
SCHMITZ: All right, Greg, so many things have happened in, you know, the course of this war. Can you briefly recap where things stand today in the Gulf?
MYRE: Yeah. Iran effectively closed down the Strait of Hormuz, this 21-mile-wide waterway. And very few ships have been going in or out of the Gulf in recent weeks. It was more than a hundred ships a day before the war, and now it's just a handful. The strait was supposed to reopen when the ceasefire was announced last Wednesday, but that hasn't happened. We're still seeing just a trickle of traffic - usually, three, four, five ships a day. It was 12 on Saturday, which is the highest day in recent weeks or so, according to the ship tracking firm Kpler.
SCHMITZ: You know, all this comes on the heels of the U.S.-Iran talks in Pakistan. Are more talks likely?
MYRE: Yeah. No word on what might come next. Vice President JD Vance led the U.S. delegation that met with Iran for 21 hours on Saturday and into...
SCHMITZ: Wow.
MYRE: ...Sunday morning in Islamabad, Pakistan - significant because this was the highest-level U.S.-Iran talk since Iran's 1979 revolution. But when Vance emerged, he said Iran chose to, quote, "not to accept our terms." Iran's Parliament speaker, who led the Iranian delegation, said on social media that the United States had been, quote, "unable to gain trust of the Iranian delegation." And, Rob, given all the difficult and complicated issues, a comprehensive agreement in just one meeting, even a marathon session, seemed highly unlikely. Both delegations headed home, and the question is whether they made enough progress to justify further talks.
SCHMITZ: So did the talks at least clarify which issues are going to be most critical here?
MYRE: Yeah. I think it did help on that front. The U.S. is really focused on two issues, reopening the Strait of Hormuz, and it wants Iran to effectively give up its nuclear program. Iran seems to feel it's in a pretty strong negotiating position. It withstood more than five weeks of heavy U.S. and Israeli bombing, and every day it keeps the strait closed puts additional pressure on global oil prices and gas prices here in the U.S. And on the nuclear issue, Iran has always maintained it has a right to enrich uranium. It's refused to give up highly enriched uranium. And Iran wants concessions from the U.S. It wants guarantees that the war is over and it will no longer be attacked by the U.S.
SCHMITZ: That's NPR's Greg Myre. Greg, thank you.
MYRE: Sure thing, Rob.
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