Posted on 04/15/2026 7:35:27 AM PDT by MtnClimber
“U.S. forces maintain maritime superiority in the Middle East,” said Adm. Brad Cooper; Trump: the Iran war is “very close to over.”
A U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer is seen during a blockade mission targeting traffic to and from Iranian ports, in an undated image released by U.S. Central Command on April 15, 2026.Source: @CENTCOM/X.
( Apr. 15, 2026 / JNS ) The U.S. military has fully implemented a blockade of Iranian ports, halting maritime trade in and out of the country within 36 hours, the commander of U.S. Central Command said on Wednesday. Adm. Brad Cooper said U.S. forces “maintain maritime superiority in the Middle East” as part of the operation, which he said has stopped economic trade by sea that fuels about 90% of Iran’s economy.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that U.S. naval forces have intercepted eight oil tankers entering or leaving Iranian ports since the blockade began on Monday. In each case, crews were contacted by radio and instructed to reverse course, and no boarding was necessary, according to U.S. officials quoted in the report.
The U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet, headquartered in Bahrain, is leading the maritime operation across the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman.
In addition to the blockade, CENTCOM forces are clearing mines from the Strait of Hormuz, with the guided-missile destroyers USS Frank E. Peterson and USS Michael Murphy operating in the area.
A third U.S. aircraft carrier strike group and additional minesweepers are heading to the Middle East to help enforce the blockade and challenge Tehran’s grip on the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. military news outlet Stars and Stripes reported on Tuesday, citing fleet-tracking data.
The pending arrival of roughly six more ships will bring to at least 27 the number of Navy vessels in the region—about 41% of all U.S. ships actively deployed worldwide—alongside more than 16,500 sailors and Marines already assigned there, the report said, adding that the beefed-up force is intended to give commanders more flexibility to tighten the blockade and increase economic pressure on Iran’s leadership to curb its nuclear program.
Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump told Fox News host Maria Bartiromo that the Iran war is “very close to over,” adding in an excerpt from the interview posted to her X account early Wednesday that “if I pulled up stakes right now, it would take them 20 years to rebuild their country. And we’re not finished. We’ll see what happens. I think they want to make a deal very badly.”
Trump also told ABC News reporter Jonathan Karl that he is considering extending the two-week ceasefire announced by the president on April 7, but he doesn’t think it will be necessary.
“I think you’re going to be watching an amazing two days ahead. I really do,” Trump said, according to Karl in an X post on Wednesday morning.
Karl said that he asked the president if the war ends with a deal, or “do you just say, look, we knocked out their capability and that’s it?” Trump replied: “It could end either way, but I think a deal is preferable because then they can rebuild. They really do have a different regime now. No matter what, we took out the radicals. They’re gone, no longer with us.”
The president’s comments come amid reports that U.S. and Iranian negotiating teams could return to Islamabad as early as this weekend for a fresh round of talks, following the collapse last weekend of marathon high-level meetings between the two sides in Pakistan’s capital.
Jerusalem and Washington launched joint military operations against the Islamist regime ruling Iran on Feb. 28, hitting tens of thousands of targets, including Tehran’s ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs, before the truce took hold.
Washington has set out firm red lines in further talks with Tehran, including an end to all uranium enrichment, dismantling major enrichment facilities, recovering highly enriched material, fully reopening the Strait of Hormuz without tolls, securing a broader peace that covers regional allies and halting support for terrorist proxies such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and Yemen’s Houthi rebels, according to two U.S. officials briefed on the negotiations and cited by the Journal.
The Trump administration has made clear that Iran’s enriched uranium is the “central issue” in the negotiations with the Islamic Republic, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance, who led the American negotiating team last weekend, called Netanyahu following the breakdown in the Islamabad talks and clarified “that the central issue on the agenda for President Trump and the U.S. is the removal of all enriched material, and ensuring there is no more enrichment in the coming years, and this could be for decades—no enrichment inside Iran,” the Israeli leader told reporters at a Cabinet meeting in Jerusalem.
“This is their focus, and of course, it is important to us as well,” said Netanyahu.
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Much of the IRGC is still in place. The Iranian citizens need to clean that up.
Trump to IRGC: I’ll see your phony $2 million toll, and raise you a complete blockade.
What happens when a Chinese oiler refuses to be embargoed and keeps on steaming?
No matter what, we took out the radicals. They’re gone, no longer with us.”
But the people are still in bondage. What are we going to do about that?
“What happens when a Chinese oiler refuses to be embargoed and keeps on steaming?”
We sink it, no questions asked. China cannot project power on the seas and, if it tried, its navy would be destroyed.
They won’t.
We board it and seize control of the ship and steam it out of the area.
They have to dock somewhere, just blow it up before they get there.
China is looking incredibly weak and ineffective in all this. Xi needs to remove more of his Generals.
The CCP is more than happy with the current trajectory of this conflict since regime change is no longer on the table. They’ll make lots of money rebuilding Iran, too.
We’ve destroyed the destroyers. That should be it. Lets leave town now, today.
“The Iranian citizens need to clean that up.” - or not, well said.
And if Israel wants boots on the ground then they can knock themselves out. Best of luck.
China is looking incredibly weak and ineffective in all this.
How so? Their key ally Death to America Iran is in power and will remain so. They’ll make lots of money rebuilding Iranian infastructure. Nothing “weak and ineffective” there at all.
“Much of the IRGC is still in place. The Iranian citizens need to clean that up.”
The Iranians at the top appear to be captives of the islamic death cult. They may be evil, but they aren’t stupid. They see that the American media is on their side, and the American people are, in general, fickle and stupid.
It looks like the Iranians are trying to wait us out. It would work for sure with any other president.
Your faith in the power of the CCP is admirable.
All Iran has to do is attack Saudi Arabia again and Pakistan joins the war. They now have a defense treaty.
What happens when that Chinese oiler is escorted by a Chinese ship-of-the-line?
The Arab states have wanted the mullahs gone for years.
Will that Chinese ship-of-the-line be passing through ours in violation of the stated blockade?
Looks like multiple IEDs went off in Tehran today.
Good sign.
> What happens when a Chinese oiler refuses to be embargoed and keeps on steaming?
They might just hit an unfortunate Iranian mine. That would be a shame. But even the Iranians say those things might be anywhere.
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