US-Iran war latest: Navy reveals when blockade will begin, Trump announces next barrage of strikes on Iran

The US Navy has revealed when it will begin enforcing a naval blockade on Iranian shipping in the Strait of Hormuz as President Donald Trump declares the US will carry out more strikes.

According to Axios, the US blockade, which will “encompasses the entirety of the Iranian coastline to include but not limited to Iranian ports and oil terminals,” will come into effect on July 14 at 4pm ET (July 15 at 6am AEST).

“US Central Command will begin enforcement of a naval blockade of all Iranian ports and Iranian coastal areas. All neutral vessels are hereby warned and have the period until enforcement begins to depart the blockaded area,” the Navy said in a statement.

“Any vessel suspected of entering or departing the blockaded area without authorisation is subject to interception, diversion, and capture. Non-compliant vessels may be legally compelled with force.”

Mr Trump announced the US will carry out further strikes on Iran today as the two countries continue to exchange a barrage of attacks.

During an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, Mr Trump said: “We’re going to hit them very hard tonight, and we’re going to hit them hard tomorrow”.

Earlier, speaking to Fox News, Mr Trump reiterated his claim that the US would become the “guardian” of the strategic waterway.

“We’re going to keep the strait and we’ll probably run it. We’ll become the guardian of the strait. Maybe we’ll call it the guardian angel of the strait — and we should be reimbursed for that,” he told the outlet.

It comes after Mr Trump announced the United States is reinstating a naval blockade on Iran and would be reimbursed 20 per cent on all cargo shipped through the Strait of Hormuz after Iran claimed it had closed the waterway.

“The Hormuz Strait is OPEN, and will remain OPEN, with or without Iran. We are reinstating THE IRANIAN BLOCKADE,” Trump said on Truth Social.

“The USA ... will be reimbursed, at the rate of 20 per cent on all cargo shipped, for any and all costs necessary to do the job of providing safety and security to this very volatile section of the World,” he said.

Control of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital route for global oil supplies, has become one of the main battlegrounds of the conflict.

Iran’s effective blockade of the strait has pushed up energy prices and increased concerns about inflation globally.

“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,” he said.

After announcing the waterway’s closure on Saturday following what it described as an unauthorised transit, Iran said on Sunday that passage remained suspended and that permits would be issued once “stability and calm” were restored.

“We had a deal. It was a done deal, and then they broke it. They always break it. We’ve had 10 deals with these people, and so we’re just going to hit them very hard,” Trump said.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said in a statement on Monday that the only way to restore regular shipping traffic through the strait was to end US military interventions in the waterway, and warned that “continued interference could lead to greater incidents in the global oil and gas sector”.

US and Iranian forces exchanged heavy missile and drone attacks over the weekend and into Monday, with Iran saying it had struck US military facilities across the Gulf and kept the Strait of Hormuz closed, driving oil prices higher.

The latest exchanges mark a sharp escalation in both the pace and geographic reach of attacks over the past week, casting doubt on an interim US-Iranian agreement signed last month to reopen the strait and halt hostilities while the sides pursued a further 60 days of negotiations.

- with Reuters