U.S. President Donald Trump said on April 12 that the U.S. Navy would move to lock down the Strait of Hormuz after negotiations with Iran failed to produce a lasting agreement. Trump also declared that U.S. forces would intercept, on global seas, any ship that continued to pay transit tolls or fees to Iran, signalling a bid to choke off Tehran’s maritime revenue. Later, the U.S. military announced that a naval blockade on Iran would formally begin from 10 a.m. Eastern Time on April 13, setting a precise start time for the operation. American commanders stated that they would seek to blockade all maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports, dramatically tightening pressure on Tehran’s trade routes. In response, Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps issued a warning to the U.S. and its allies against any “miscalculations,” hinting at severe consequences if the plan goes ahead. The IRGC Navy said that one wrong move by the United States would plunge its forces into a “deadly whirlpool of destruction,” evoking the image of a catastrophic confrontation at sea.