President Trump orders military to resume naval blockade of Iran amid renewed fighting

The U.S. Navy first blockaded Iran earlier this year, from April 13 to June 18, at the height of the conflict that began in February with a joint U.S.-Israeli bombing campaign. It was paused during a fragile ceasefire.

By Steven Richards

Published: July 13, 2026 2:54pm

President Donald Trump ordered the U.S. military to resume a naval blockade of Iran following the breakdown of the fragile ceasefire.

U.S. Central Command announced that the blockade, which aims to halt all maritime traffic "entering and exiting" Iranian ports, will resume on July 14 at 4pm ET.

"CENTCOM forces will enforce the blockade against vessels transiting to or from Iranian ports and coastal areas. The U.S. military continues to support traffic flow through regional waters for all vessels not violating the blockade," the military command posted to X on Monday.

The latest round of hostilities and the breakdown of the Memorandum of Understanding signed by Trump and Iranian leaders came after Iran's armed forces attacked several commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz last week. The United States responded by striking Iranian targets across the country.

The U.S. Navy first blockaded Iran earlier this year, from April 13 to June 18, at the height of the conflict that began in February with a joint U.S.-Israeli bombing campaign.

Earlier on Monday, President Trump said that the U.S. would become the "guardian" of the Strait of Hormuz.

“We’ll become the guardian of the strait. Maybe we’ll become the guardian angel of the strait, and we should be reimbursed for that,” Trump told Fox News. “When we do that we’re going to be reimbursed because the other nations are very wealthy, they’re on our side, and we can’t be expected to do that for nothing unlike we had for many years.”

“We’re going to keep the strait, and we’ll probably run it,” he also said.