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Ship traffic has been halted again in the Strait of Hormuz after President Trump ordered the U.S. military to begin a naval blockade of all Iranian ports and coastal areas starting Monday at 10 a.m. ET. Iran denounced Trump’s move as an illegal act amounting to “piracy” and has threatened to strike Gulf ports in retaliation. Trump ordered the blockade after the U.S. and Iran failed to reach a deal to end the war following 21 hours of talks in Islamabad, Pakistan. Global oil prices jumped after Trump announced the blockade.

Ervand Abrahamian, professor emeritus of history at the Graduate Center at the City University of New York, predicts “the U.S. will start bombing Iranian oil installations. Iran will retaliate by bombing the Gulf oil installations, gas installations. The oil prices then could really zoom up. Some people expect it to reach $200 a barrel.” Abrahamian warns that soaring energy prices will have long-term implications for the world economy.

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: Ship traffic has halted again in the Strait of Hormuz after President Trump ordered the U.S. military to begin a naval blockade of all Iranian ports and coastal areas starting today at 10 a.m. Eastern. Iran denounced Trump’s move as an illegal act amounting to piracy. Iran has threatened to strike Gulf ports in retaliation.

Trump ordered the blockade after the U.S. and Iran failed to reach a deal to end the war following 21 hours of talks in Islamabad, Pakistan. The negotiations marked the highest-level talks between the two countries since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. U.S. Vice President JD Vance headed the U.S. delegation, which included U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

Trump Threatens Iran With Same Killing “System” After US Kills 5 in Boat Strike

Iranian negotiators had flown to Pakistan on a plane they called “Minab 168” as a tribute to the 168 people killed in a U.S. missile strike on an elementary school in the city of Minab on February 28th. The plane carried images of the dead schoolchildren, along with blood-stained school bags recovered beneath the rubble.

Global oil prices jumped after Trump announced the blockade.

We’re joined now by Ervand Abrahamian, professor emeritus of history at the Graduate Center at the City University of New York, the author of several books, most recently, Oil Crisis in Iran: From Nationalism to Coup d’État. His forthcoming book, 1979: An Inevitable Revolution.

So, your response to what transpired in Pakistan, the deal that was not reached between Iran and the United States, and what this means, Professor?

ERVAND ABRAHAMIAN: Well, I think both sides actually presented, basically, ultimate demands which the other side couldn’t accept, so it was a false start. But the implications of the failure is going to be actually quite drastic on the United States, because Trump’s main concern has been to actually put a limit, a lid,........

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