The United States military has fully sealed Iran’s ports from international sea trade while President Donald Trump signals the conflict may be approaching its end, even as a fragile ceasefire faces a critical deadline next week.
The US Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed late Tuesday that the blockade, which bars ships from entering or exiting Iranian ports, has been fully implemented, cutting off Tehran’s international sea trade. More than 10,000 US service members are executing the operation, with no ships having passed through the blockade in its first 24 hours.
The blockade began Monday morning and applies to all vessels coming and going from Iranian ports, though CENTCOM clarified it would allow traffic through the Strait of Hormuz for ships traveling between non-Iranian ports. Six merchant vessels complied with directions from US forces to reverse course and return to an Iranian port on the Gulf of Oman.
Speaking in a prerecorded interview aired Wednesday on Fox Business Network, Trump expressed confidence the conflict would soon end. “We’ve beaten them militarily, totally,” the president told host Maria Bartiromo. “I think it’s close to over, I view it as very close to over. If I pulled up stakes right now it would take them 20 years to rebuild that country.”
Mediators moved closer on Wednesday to extending the ceasefire between the US and Iran and restarting negotiations before the fragile truce expires on April 22. Regional officials told the Associated Press (AP) that Washington and Tehran had given an “in principle agreement” to extend it to allow for more diplomacy. However, a senior US official told CNBC the country had “not formally agreed” to an extension, while adding that “there is continued engagement between the US and Iran to reach a deal.”
Mediators are pushing for a compromise on three main sticking points that derailed direct talks last weekend: Iran’s nuclear programme, the Strait of Hormuz, and compensation for wartime damages.
The Trump administration said Wednesday it feels “good about prospects of a deal,” with Pakistan identified as the likely location for a potential second round of talks.
The conflict has claimed nearly 6,000 lives since the US and Israel began launching strikes on Iran more than a month ago. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has sharply cut its 2026 growth forecast for the Middle East and North Africa to 1.1 percent, predicting a 6.1 percent contraction for the Iranian economy this year.
