Trump threatens China with 50% tariffs if it sends arms to Iran, Strait of Hormuz blockade after US-Iran ceasefire talks end without agreement

AP, PTI, April 12, 2026, Islamabad : President Donald Trump on Sunday said the US Navy would “immediately” begin a blockade to stop ships from entering or leaving the Strait of Hormuz, after US-Iran peace talks in Pakistan ended without an agreement.

Trump sought to exert strategic control over the waterway responsible for the transportation of 20 per cent of global oil supplies before the war, hoping to take away Iran's key source of economic leverage in the fighting.

The president added that he has “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.”

Trump also said the U.S. was ready to “finish up” Iran at the “appropriate moment," stressing that Tehran's nuclear ambitions were at the core of the failure to end the war.

Face-to-face talks ended earlier Sunday after 21 hours, leaving a fragile two-week ceasefire in doubt.

US officials said the negotiations collapsed over what they described as Iran's refusal to commit to abandoning a path to a nuclear weapon, while Iranian officials blamed the US for the breakdown of the talks without specifying the sticking points.

Neither side indicated what will happen after the 14-day ceasefire expires on April 22. Pakistani mediators urged all parties to maintain it. Both said their positions were clear and put the onus on the other side, underscoring how little the gap had narrowed throughout the talks.

“We need to see an affirmative commitment that they will not seek a nuclear weapon, and they will not seek the tools that would enable them to quickly achieve a nuclear weapon,” Vice President JD Vance said after the talks.

Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, who led Iran in the negotiations, said it was time for the United States “to decide whether it can gain our trust or not.”

He did not mention the core disputes in a series of social media posts, though Iranian officials earlier said the talks fell apart over two or three key issues, blaming what they called US overreach.

Iran has long denied seeking nuclear weapons but has insisted on its right to a civilian nuclear programme. It has offered “affirmative commitments” in the past in writing, including in the landmark 2015 nuclear deal. Experts say its stockpile of enriched uranium, though not weapons-grade, is only a short technical step away.

Since the US and Israel launched the war on February 28, it has killed at least 3,000 people in Iran, 2,020 in Lebanon, 23 in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states, and caused lasting damage to infrastructure in half a dozen Middle Eastern countries. Iran's grip on the Strait of Hormuz has largely cut off the Persian Gulf and its oil and gas exports from the global economy, sending energy prices soaring.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said his country will try to facilitate a new dialogue between Iran and the US in the coming days.

“It is imperative that the parties continue to uphold their commitment to ceasefire,” Dar said.

Trump threatens China 

WASHINGTON: The US president said his threat to impose 50% tariffs on goods from countries that sold weapons to Iran was aimed at China. Trump told Fox News' “Sunday Morning Futures” that he has heard reports of China giving anti-aircraft “shoulder missiles” to Iran. He played down the possibility of China supplying weapons to Iran, but said their goods would be taxed if they did. “I doubt they would do that, because I have a relationship, and I think they would not do that, but maybe they did a little bit at the beginning,” Trump said. “But if we catch them doing that, they get a 50% tariff.”

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