President Donald Trump said on Sunday the US Navy would immediately start blockading the Strait of Hormuz, raising the stakes after marathon talks with Iran failed to reach a deal to end the war, jeopardising a fragile two-week ceasefire.

Trump also said in a post on ⁠Truth Social that the US would interdict every vessel in international waters that had paid a toll to Iran, and begin destroying mines that he said the Iranians had dropped in the strait, a choke point for about 20 percent of global energy supplies that Tehran has blocked.

"Effective immediately, the United States Navy, the Finest in the World, will begin the process of BLOCKADING any and all Ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz," he said.

"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."

While acknowledging that the marathon negotiations in Pakistan had gone "well" and "most points were agreed to," Trump said Iran had refused to concede on the issue of its nuclear programme.

Iran's Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, who led his country's delegation in the talks in Islamabad along with Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, blamed the US for not winning Tehran's trust despite his team ⁠offering "forward-looking initiatives".

"The US has understood Iran's logic and principles and it's time for them to decide whether they can earn our trust or not," Qalibaf said on X.

The talks, after a ceasefire earlier in the week, were the first direct US-Iranian meeting in more than a decade and the highest-level discussions since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

On Saturday, the US military announced that two of its warships had transited the strait at the start of a mine clearance operation.

Trump warned that eventually, US forces would "finish up the little that is left of Iran" if necessary.

"We are fully 'LOCKED AND LOADED,'" he wrote.

With no deal reached in the talks, world leaders quickly urged both sides to pursue the diplomatic route to peace.

Saudi Arabia's energy ministry said on Sunday its key east-west oil pipeline was back in service after it was damaged in earlier strikes, and Qatar's transport ministry said it was lifting some restrictions on Gulf shipping.

Pakistan said it would keep facilitating dialogue and urged both countries to continue respecting the temporary truce.

"It is imperative that the parties continue to uphold their commitment to ceasefire," Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said.

A European Union spokesman said diplomacy would be "essential" to securing peace and hailed Pakistan's mediation efforts.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the Sultan of Oman, Haitham bin Tariq, and both leaders agreed it "was vital there was a continuation of the ceasefire, and that all parties avoided any further escalation".

A complicating factor has been Israel's assertion that the ceasefire does not affect Lebanon, where the Israeli military has launched strikes and a ground invasion in response to rocket fire from Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed movement.

Lebanese authorities said Israeli strikes on the country's south on Saturday killed 18 people, bringing the death toll from Israel's operations since the war broke out past 2,000.

Israel and Lebanon will hold their own talks in Washington.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday that he wanted a peace deal with Lebanon that "will last for generations". But Israel has ruled out a ceasefire with Hezbollah, signalling it will instead seek to pressure the historically weak central government in Beirut. (Reuters/AFP)



Edited by Edmond Fong