US blockade of Iran continues as Islamabad talks show no breakthrough

U.S. Central Command said on Friday it had prevented 34 vessels from passing through the Strait of Hormuz as part of a blockade on Iranian ports amid a stalemate in U.S.-Iranian negotiations to end hostilities in the region.

In a separate tweet, CENTCOM relayed that the USS Rafael Peralta destroyer had redirected an Iranian-flagged ship from its route toward a port in Iran.

Iran’s judiciary chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Ejei dismissed on Saturday the United States’ ability to impose an effective blockade.

“Americans should know that they ... lack the capability to impose a naval blockade on Iran; Isfahan and Tabas will be repeated once again in the waters of the Persian Gulf,” he tweeted, referencing two Iranian cities in which U.S. forces were allegedly defeated by the Islamic Republic.

However, addressing the Iranian people on Saturday through Tehran’s state-run broadcaster IRIB, President Masoud Pezeshkian urged citizens to cut back on electricity consumption.

“Instead of turning on 10 lights at home, turn on two lights. What is wrong with that?” the Associated Press quoted Pezeshkian as saying.

He mentioned the destruction of infrastructure by the U.S. and Israeli militaries, coupled with the ongoing naval blockade, as the reason to downsize electricity usage.

Meanwhile, an American delegation is expected to touch down in Islamabad on Saturday to continue the indirect talks with Tehran over an agreement to end the war.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Pakistan on Friday, and met with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Pakistan’s Chief of the Army Staff Asim Munir, according to AP.

Araghchi said on his Telegram account that he is on a trip to Islamabad, Muscat and Moscow “to coordinate closely with [Iran’s] partners on bilateral issues and consultations on regional developments.”

He emphasized “Pakistan’s special position in Iran’s foreign policy and relations and Iran’s will to further develop relations between the two countries.”

He did not disclose Tehran’s demands but said that his country’s “principled positions” were conveyed to Islamabad.

On Thursday, Iranian officials expressed a unified front after reports surfaced that Tehran’s leadership was fractured.

“In Iran there are no ‘hardliners’ or ‘moderates,’ Pezeshkian tweeted.

“We are all Iranians and revolutionaries. With ironclad unity of nation and state and obedience to the Supreme Leader, we will make the aggressor regret. One God, one nation, one leader, one path; victory for Iran, dearer than life,” he wrote.

US beefing up forces in the Middle East

With the continued deadlock in negotiations, the USS George H.W. Bush has in the meantime arrived in the Middle East, joining two other aircraft carriers for “Operation Epic Fury,” U.S. Central Command said on April 23.

“For the first time in decades, three aircraft carriers are operating in the Middle East at the same time,” CENTCOM stated. “Accompanied by their carrier air wings, the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) and USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) include over 200 aircraft and 15,000 Sailors and Marines.”

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Thursday played down the significance of an Iranian seizure of two ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

“These were not U.S. ships. These were not Israeli ships. These were two international vessels,” Leavitt replied when asked by Fox News’ Martha McCallum if President Donald Trump considered this a violation of the truce.

“And for the American media, who are sort of blowing this out of proportion to discredit the president’s facts that he has completely obliterated Iran’s conventional navy, these two ships were taken by speedy gunboats. Iran has gone from having the most lethal navy in the Middle East to now acting like a bunch of pirates. They don’t have control over the strait,” she said.