The Iranian military on Wednesday threatened shipping in the Red Sea if the U.S. military keeps up its blockade of Iranian ports as the U.S. command in the region said shipping to the country has been halted.
If the United States keeps up “its illegal action of naval blockade in the region and create insecurity for Iranian commercial ships and oil tankers, this action by the US will be the precursor to violating the ceasefire, and the powerful Iranian armed forces will not allow any exports or imports to continue in the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman, and the Red Sea,” Major General Ali Abdollahi said, according to state-run PressTV.
If the blockade persists, he added, “Iran will take strong measures to defend its national sovereignty and interests.”
On Wednesday, the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said the blockade has “completely halted” Iran’s sea trade after it went into effect on Monday morning, affecting the country’s ports.
American service members in the region “remain positioned and ready to act against any vessels seeking to violate the blockade,” CENTCOM said in an X post.
The blockade was announced after talks between a U.S. delegation and the Iranian regime fell through over the past weekend, although the White House confirmed Wednesday that more negotiations are possible.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters the U.S. government has not “formally requested an extension of the ceasefire” with Iran. The ceasefire announced by President Donald Trump on April 7 is currently slated to expire next Tuesday.
“At this moment, we remain very much engaged, in these negotiations, in these talks,” Leavitt said, adding that there are “discussions” about more talks being held in person. “But nothing is official until you hear it from us here at the White House,” she added.
She said the possible next round of talks “would very likely” be in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, as they were previously.
Other than the blockade, the Trump administration said it is ramping up economic pressure on Tehran by issuing secondary sanctions on financial institutions that deal with Iran.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday said the administration has told companies and countries “that if you are buying Iranian oil, that if Iranian money is sitting in your banks, we are now willing to apply secondary sanctions, which is a very stern measure.”
“And the Iranians should know that this is going to be the financial equivalent of what we saw in the kinetic activities,” he added.
The warning comes the day after the U.S. Department of the Treasury sent a letter to financial institutions in China, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman, threatening to levy secondary sanctions for doing business with Iran.
On Wednesday, the Treasury Department sanctioned an Iranian-linked oil smuggling network that impacts dozens of companies and individuals accused of transporting Russian and Iranian oil via front companies.
“The Shamkhani network evades sanctions through a group of seemingly legitimate administrative, consulting, and shipping firms that manage all aspects of the network’s fleet,” the department said, using the name for the network. “These firms and their employees maintain a robust public presence to provide a veneer of legitimacy while allowing the network to support the Iranian regime.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
