Trump Claims Many Countries Will Help US Blockade Strait of Hormuz, UK First to Deny

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump, on Sunday (12/4/2026), claimed that other countries would help the United States in conducting a naval blockade against Iran after negotiations with Iran in Islamabad, Pakistan failed to produce an agreement to end the war in the Middle East. The blockade aims to prevent Iran from exporting its oil.

“Alright, we will carry out the blockade. It will take a little time, but it will soon be effective,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News.

According to Trump, many countries would assist the US in the blockade, and his side would carry it out fully. “We will not allow Iran to get money by selling oil to the people they like and not to the people they don’t like,” Trump said.

The blockade would take a little time but would soon be effective. Gulf countries are already helping with those efforts, Trump said, without specifying which countries.

He added that the Iranian side might claim they would drop one or two, or even up to 10, mines.

“If you have a ship worth a billion dollars, then you will say, ‘Yeah, I would prefer not to hit a mine, lose my ship or at least severely damage it’,” Trump said, calling it “blackmail”.

According to Trump, the US and other countries would send mine-sweeping ships to the Strait of Hormuz to clear the mines left by Iran.

“We have mine-sweeping ships there. Now, we have very advanced, brand new, and best underwater mine-sweeping ships; but we are also bringing in more traditional mine-sweeping ships. So, I understand that the UK and some other countries are sending mine-sweeping ships,” he said.

Trump also expressed great disappointment with NATO and said that NATO now wants to come and help the US clear the strait. “And it won’t take long to clean it. So we will clean the strait and they will be able to use the strait in not too long a time,” he said.