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CENTCOM said it will block all traffic 'entering and exiting Iranian ports.'
Last Updated: April 13, 2026, 4:28 AM EDT
President Donald Trump announced "major combat operations" against Iran on Feb. 28, with massive joint U.S.-Israeli strikes targeting military and government sites.
Trump set a deadline for Iran to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face broad strikes on its critical infrastructure. Hours before the deadline expired, Trump said he had agreed to suspend planned bombing for two weeks if Iran agreed to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
But subsequent U.S.-Iran talks in Pakistan failed to reach a peace deal. Trump said that Iran's nuclear program was the key sticking point, and said the U.S. would respond with a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz starting at 10 a.m. ET on Monday.
Israel, meanwhile, has continued ground operations and intense strikes in Lebanon, where it is engaged with the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he supported the ceasefire with Iran, but that Lebanon was not covered by the agreement, despite Iranian protests.
Key Headlines
Apr 12, 2026, 10:21 PM EDT
Apr 12, 2026, 5:20 PM EDT
Here's how the news is developing.
48 minutes ago
Iran says 'no port' will be safe if Iranian ports are threatened
The spokesperson for Iran's joint military command at Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters said Monday that if the security of Iranian ports in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman is threatened, "no port in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman will be safe."
"Enemy-affiliated" vessels will not have the right to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, while other vessels will continue to be allowed transit "in accordance with the regulations of the Islamic Republic of Iran's armed forces," the spokesperson said, as quoted by Iran's state television Telegram channel.
"Given the continued threats," he said, the Islamic Republic will also implement "a permanent mechanism" to control the Strait of Hormuz, even after the war.
This file photo shows a vessel in the Strait of Hormuz, off the coast of Oman's Musandam province, on April 12, 2026.
Stringer/Reuters
-ABC News' Somayeh Malekian
2 hours and 3 minutes ago
US and Iran 'inches away' from understanding in Islamabad, Araghchi says
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a post to X on Sunday night that the U.S. and Iran were "inches away" from a memorandum of understanding in talks in Islamabad at the weekend.
Talks collapsed after Iran "encountered maximalism, shifting goalposts and blockade," Araghchi alleged. "Zero lessons learned," he added.
"In intensive talks at highest level in 47 years, Iran engaged with U.S in good faith to end war," the foreign minister wrote. "Good will begets good will. Enmity begets enmity."
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi appears on ABC News' "This Week" on March 1, 2026
ABC News
Apr 12, 2026, 10:21 PM EDT
Trump lashes out against Pope Leo XIV over criticism of Iran war
President Donald Trump on Sunday night lashed out against Pope Leo XIV on social media, calling the first-ever American pontiff “weak” over his calls for the U.S. war in Iran to end.
“Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy,” Trump wrote on social media. The president added, “I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon.”
In recent weeks, the Pope has criticized the war in Iran and called for peace in the Middle East.
Earlier this month, the Pope asked “all people of goodwill to search always for peace and not violence, to reject war, especially a war which many people have said is an unjust war, which is continuing to escalate and which is not resolving anything.”
And on Saturday, the Pope referred to the U.S. military offensive in Iran as a “delusion of omnipotence,” imploring the country leaders to come to a peace agreement.
-ABC News' Fritz Farrow and Emily Chang
Apr 12, 2026, 5:20 PM EDT
US blockade of Iranian ports to begin Monday, CENTCOM says
U.S. forces will begin a blockade of maritime traffic to and from Iranian ports Monday morning, according to U.S. Central Command.
"U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces will begin implementing a blockade of all maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports on April 13 at 10 a.m. ET, in accordance with the President’s proclamation," according to a CENTCOM statement late Sunday afternoon.
Guided-missile destroyer USS Frank E. Petersen Jr. (DDG 121) sails in the Arabian Sea during Operation Epic Fury, on March 18, 2026.
U.S. Navy
"The blockade will be enforced impartially against vessels of all nations entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas, including all Iranian ports on the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman," the statement continued, adding that CENTCOM forces "will not impede freedom of navigation for vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz to and from non-Iranian ports."
President Donald Trump said Sunday morning in a post on his social media platform that the U.S. will "immediately" begin a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, following the failure of peace negotiations between the U.S. and Iran.
Commercial mariners will be provided with additional information prior to the start of the blockade, according to CENTCOM, which also advised "all mariners" to monitor advisory broadcasts and contact U.S. naval forces "when operating in the Gulf of Oman and Strait of Hormuz approaches."
