A day after China slammed the U.S. strategy of blockading Iranian ports while keeping the Strait of Hormuz open, President Donald Trump claimed the nation is now on board with his strategy of forcing Iran into peace.
“China is very happy that I am permanently opening the Strait of Hormuz. I am doing it for them, also – And the World,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
“This situation will never happen again. They have agreed not to send weapons to Iran. President Xi will give me a big, fat, hug when I get there in a few weeks,” Trump wrote, referencing his planned trip to China in May.
“We are working together smartly, and very well! Doesn’t that beat fighting??? BUT REMEMBER, we are very good at fighting, if we have to – far better than anyone else!!!” Trump wrote.
NEW: US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced that no vessels have breached the US blockade on Iranian ports since CENTCOM implemented its blockade on April 13. The US blockade on Iranian ports does not have a defined geographic boundary, and the United States can interdict vessels… pic.twitter.com/4XUErYJB5j
— Institute for the Study of War (@TheStudyofWar) April 15, 2026
On Tuesday, a CNBC report noted that China has called the U.S. action a “dangerous and irresponsible act” that will worsen tensions.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Tuesday that the strategy was exacerbating an “already fragile ceasefire situation.”
Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun also said reports that China supplied weapons to Iran were false.
“China believes that only by achieving a comprehensive ceasefire and ending the war can we fundamentally create conditions for easing the situation in the strait,” he said.
United States Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz said that Iran will not be allowed to hold the world hostage.
“Iran doesn’t get to choose the winners and losers on the global economy. The United States will do that until all ships are open,” he said, according to NBC News. “So, no ships come out, or all ships come out.”
“What President Trump has done has taken that leverage, taken Iran trying to hold the entire world’s economies hostage, has taken that off the table,” Waltz added.
Waltz said Iran’s economy “is in free fall” and “time is not on their side.”
U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyers are among the assets executing a blockade mission impacting Iranian ports. The blockade is being enforced impartially against vessels of all nations entering or leaving coastal areas or ports in Iran. A typical destroyer has a crew of more than… pic.twitter.com/tsu4i322r4
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) April 15, 2026
Iran, however, issued another volley of tough talk.
If the U.S. blockade “creates insecurity” for Iran, the nation will consider it “a prelude to violating the cease-fire,” Maj. Gen. Ali Abdollahi, the commander overseeing Iran’s armed forces, said, according to The New York Times.
If Iran decides it is threatened, “Iran’s powerful armed forces will not allow any exports or imports to continue in the Persian Gulf, the Sea of Oman and the Red Sea,” he said.
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