WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) – The naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz by the US military announced by US President Donald Trump is scheduled to begin on Monday. From 10:00 a.m. US Eastern Time (4:00 p.m. CEST), maritime traffic for ships entering or leaving Iranian ports will be blocked, the US Regional Command for the Middle East (Centcom) announced on the X platform. This includes Iranian ports in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. The blockade will be enforced against ships of all nations, it said.
At the same time, Centcom explained that the passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz whose destination or starting point is not an Iranian port would not be affected by the US military.
After the initially failed diplomatic negotiations between the USA and Iran in the Pakistani capital Islamabad, Trump announced the naval blockade on Sunday, but initially did not give an exact start date. With the blockade, Trump wants to prevent Iran from charging shipping companies fees for passage through the strait and at the same time cut off the country from oil revenues.
Iran is one of the largest oil producers in the world, and the Strait of Hormuz is therefore extremely important for Tehran to bring its oil exports to international markets.
Since the war began on February 28 with US-Israeli attacks on Iran, Tehran had blocked the Strait of Hormuz off its coast, which is important for oil transport. The passage of ships practically came to a standstill. Energy prices have skyrocketed worldwide, which is also putting Trump under pressure./rin/DP/zb
