WASHINGTON — President Trump claimed Wednesday that Iran was “choking like a stuffed pig” due to the US blockade of the Islamic Republic’s ports, which he indicated would remain until Tehran agreed to give up its pursuit of a nuclear weapon.
“The blockade is somewhat more effective than the bombing. They are choking like a stuffed pig. And it is going to be worse for them,” Trump told Axios in a phone interview.
A boat sails past a tanker anchored on the Strait of Hormuz off the coast Qeshm island, Iran, Saturday, April 18, 2026 AP “They want to settle. They don’t want me to keep the blockade. I don’t want to [lift the blockade], because I don’t want them to have a nuclear weapon.”
Trump mocked the Islamic fundamentalist regime after a planned second round of peace talks in Pakistan collapsed — with Tehran receiving a cool reception from the US to its proposed two-phase offer to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, then address its nuclear ambitions later.
