Trump says Iran ‘badly’ wants deal as he threatens to sink ships challenging U.S. blockade

Iran reached out to the U.S. because it wants to make a deal “very badly,” President Trump said Monday as he implemented a blockade of Iranian ports to punish Tehran and force it to the negotiating table.

Mr. Trump said “the right people” kicked off the week by phoning the White House after Vice President J.D. Vance and Iranian negotiators failed to ink a lasting peace deal in Pakistan over the weekend.

“We’ve been called by the other side,” the president said outside the Oval Office. “They’d like to make a deal very badly.”

Iran did not immediately confirm the outreach. Instead, officials in Tehran taunted Mr. Trump over his decision to blockade their ports. They said it would boomerang back on Mr. Trump in the form of higher energy costs for Americans.

“It complicates the current situation he’s already in and further unsettles the market,” Ebrahim Rezaei, a spokesperson for the Iranian parliament’s National Security Commission, said on X. “We might even reveal other cards we haven’t played in this game.”

The president said his blockade, and the economic pain tied to it, would serve two purposes: getting Tehran back to the negotiating table and forcing the Iranians to relinquish their chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz.

“We can’t let a country extort the world, because that’s what they’re doing,” Mr. Trump said at the White House.

The U.S. and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire on April 7 — an agreement that is holding fast, if by a thread. Pakistan-mediated talks over the weekend failed to result in a long-lasting agreement, and both sides quit the negotiations.

Mr. Trump announced Sunday that U.S. Navy ships would set up a blockade to thwart maritime traffic “entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas” as of 10 a.m. Eastern on Monday.

The president said non-Iranian ships hoping to traverse the Strait of Hormuz will be allowed to pass.

The blockade is the latest flashpoint in the war, which started six weeks ago with U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran to prevent it from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

Mr. Trump said Tehran’s nuclear ambitions remain the sticking point between the sides.

“Iran will not have a nuclear weapon,” Mr. Trump said.

Elsewhere, Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon exchanged fire Monday ahead of planned meetings in Washington on Tuesday between Israeli and Lebanese negotiators.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said it was “deeply distressed” because a volunteer from Lebanon was killed in one of the strikes.

The fighting in Lebanon is a prime point of contention in the conflict, alongside problems in the Strait of Hormuz.

Both issues are exasperating European leaders, who say the fighting is causing a humanitarian crisis and raising energy costs around the globe.

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said his country does not plan to participate in the blockade of Iranian ports, and European leaders are on edge about the potential economic fallout from an ongoing war.

“Our bill for fossil fuel imports has increased by over 22 billion euros in 44 days — 22 billion euros,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Monday.

Turmoil over the war even reached the Vatican. Pope Leo XIV, the first American pontiff, said he is not afraid of Mr. Trump and will continue to speak out against the war as the U.S. president chastised the pope for his criticism of U.S. policies.

China, a strategic partner of Iran, urged both sides to end the war.

“The root cause of the disruption at the Strait of Hormuz is the military conflict. To solve the issue, the conflict must stop as soon as possible,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun. “All parties need to remain calm and exercise restraint. China will continue playing a constructive role.”

Mr. Trump has alternated between urging allies to help the U.S. in opening the Strait of Hormuz and washing his hands of the problem, saying Americans do not rely on the waterway that much.

Mr. Trump on Monday also threatened to blow up any Iranian ships that tried to disrupt the blockade.

Mr. Trump said the U.S. military had “completely obliterated” much of Iran’s navy, including 158 ships. He said smaller, faster vessels were spared because they were not seen as much of a threat.

“Warning: If any of these ships come anywhere close to our BLOCKADE, they will be immediately ELIMINATED, using the same system of kill that we use against the drug dealers on boats at Sea,” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social. “It is quick and brutal.”

The president launched his campaign against Iran on Feb. 28.

Joint strikes with Israel killed Iran’s supreme leader and other top Iranian officials, and Tehran retaliated by striking targets in Israel and the Gulf region and restricting oil traffic in the Strait of Hormuz.

Higher oil prices have meant higher gasoline prices for everyday American drivers.

The national average price of a gallon of gas stood at $4.12 — down from $4.16 in recent days but more than a dollar higher than when the war started.

“Enjoy the current pump figures,” Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on social media. “With the so-called ’blockade,’ soon you’ll be nostalgic for $4–$5 gas.”

U.S. stocks rose slightly on Monday, as investors hoped for a lasting peace deal, while oil prices surged above $100 per barrel before sliding again.

Iranian officials mocked the U.S. side online, saying it could expect more market chaos.

“If you want the situation to improve, respect the Iranians, accept your defeat, and don’t demand at the negotiating table what you failed to achieve in war,” Mr. Rezaei wrote.

Mr. Trump, meanwhile, is using the threat of military force as a negotiating tactic.

Before the ceasefire, Mr. Trump threatened to target Iranian power plants, bridges and other civilian infrastructure. The president declined to say if the threat still stood, but he did not walk away from it, either.

“It won’t be pleasant for them,” Mr. Trump said, “put it that way.”