Centcom says blockade of Iranian ports to begin at 10am ET; Iran’s negotiator says ‘we will not bow to threats’; oil prices rise. Here are the main developments:Trump said the US Navy would start blockading the Hormuz strait and would also interdict every vessel in international waters that had paid a toll to Iran. US Central Command (Centcom) announced it would begin its blockade of the strait beginning Monday morning. Oil prices rose in early market trading after Trump’s blockade announcement. 29.
Trump launched a scathing attack on Pope Leo XIV, saying he was “weak on crime and terrible for foreign policy” and was hurting the Catholic church. “Leo should get his act together as Pope,” the president said on Truth Social. Trump reiterated his threat to destroy Iran’s power plants and other civilian energy infrastructure if no deal was reached to end the war, which he started with Israel in what is widely seen as an illegal and unprovoked attack. Trump also said the US didn’t need the strait. “We don’t get our oil from there.
We have so much oil,” he told Fox. ”Iranian parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who led the Tehran side in the US talks, said Trump’s new threats would have no effect on the Iranian nation. “If you fight, we will fight, and if you come forward with logic, we will deal with logic. ” He later taunted Trump on X, posting: “Enjoy the current pump figures. ” Continue reading...