US President Donald Trump today said the US Navy would immediately begin a blockade to prevent ships from entering or leaving the Strait of Hormuz, which is a critical global energy route, after US-Iran peace talks in Pakistan ended without an agreement.

In a post on social media, Mr Trump said that he had instructed the US Navy to seek and interdict every vessel in international waters that has paid a toll to Iran. He added that anyone paying an illegal toll will not have safe passage on the high seas.

Mr. Trump also said the US was ready to finish up Iran at the appropriate moment, stressing that Tehran’s nuclear ambitions were at the core of the failure of negotiations to end the war. The move appears aimed at asserting strategic control over the vital waterway, responsible for the transportation of 20 per cent of global oil supplies before the war.