Ghalibaf says Iran ‘will not bow to any threats’ after Trump orders Hormuz blockade

Iran’s parliamentary speaker, who led peace talks with the United States in Pakistan, said Sunday that his country would not give in to threats after US President Donald Trump ordered a naval blockade of the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

“If they fight, we will fight, and if they come forward with logic, we will deal with logic. We will not bow to any threats, let them test our will once again so that we can teach them a bigger lesson,” Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf told reporters after returning to Tehran from Islamabad, several Iranian news agencies reported.

Iran’s navy chief Shahram Irani called Trump’s threat to blockade the Strait of Hormuz “ridiculous,” after marathon talks between Tehran and Washington in Islamabad failed to deliver a deal to end the Middle East war.

“The brave men of the naval force of the Army of the Islamic Republic of Iran are monitoring and supervising all the movements of the aggressive American army in the region. The threats of the US president to blockade Iran at sea… are very ridiculous and funny,” he said, according to state TV.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said that any military vessels attempting to approach the Strait of Hormuz will be considered a violation of the two-week ceasefire with the US and will be dealt with “harshly and decisively.”

The strait is under the control and “smart management” of Iran’s navy, the IRGC said in a statement reported by Iranian state media, adding it is “open for the safe passage of non-military vessels in accordance with specific regulations.”

Trump ordered the US Navy to block the crucial Strait of Hormuz shipping lane, furious with Iran’s refusal to surrender its nuclear ambitions after peace talks in Pakistan broke down without an agreement.

In a lengthy declaration on his social media platform, Trump said his eventual goal was to clear the strait of mines and reopen it to all shipping, but that in the meantime Iran must not be allowed to profit from its control of the waterway.

“Effective immediately, the United States Navy, the Finest in the World, will begin the process of BLOCKADING any and all Ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump said. “Any Iranian who fires at us, or at peaceful vessels, will be BLOWN TO HELL!”

Tehran has itself been restricting traffic through the strait – a key route for global oil and gas shipments – while allowing vessels deemed to be working for friendly countries, such as China, to pass. There have been unconfirmed reports that Tehran plans to charge tolls.

“THIS IS WORLD EXTORTION,” Trump said. “I have also 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. We will also begin destroying the mines the Iranians laid in the Straits.”
The US military had said Saturday that two Navy warships transited through the strait to begin clearing it of mines and ensure it was a “safe pathway” for tankers, a claim denied by Tehran.

Trump later in a Fox News interview again threatened Iran’s energy infrastructure, before warning he would impose a 50 percent tariff on Chinese imports if Beijing tried to help the Iranian military.

“I could take out Iran in one day. I could have their entire energy everything, every one of their plants, their electric generating plants,” he said.

The president’s latest ultimatum appeared to have been triggered by the failure of talks to secure a deal to end the six-week-old war.

Iran’s refusal to give up its right to a nuclear program frustrated the US delegation, led by Vice President JD Vance, White House envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.

“I have always said, right from the beginning, and many years ago, IRAN WILL NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON!” Trump said.

“The Blockade will begin shortly. Other Countries will be involved with this Blockade,” he added, without specifying which ones.

After the talks – the highest-level meeting between the two sides since the 1979 Islamic Revolution – Vance warned that Washington had made Tehran its “final and best offer” for a deal, adding: “We’ll see if the Iranians accept it.”

Ghalibaf said he had “put forward constructive initiatives” but the US team did not win Iran’s trust.

The failure of the talks will raise concerns that a return to fighting could drive world energy prices higher and further damage shipping and oil and gas facilities.

Pakistan urged both countries to continue respecting the temporary truce.