Tehran, April 16 -- Iran's military warned on Wednesday it would block trade through the Red Sea, along with the Gulf and Sea of Oman, if the US naval blockade on Iranian ports continues, AFP reported. In a statement carried by Iranian state television, the head of the military's central command centre said if the US continues with its blockade and "creates insecurity for Iran's commercial vessels and oil tankers", it will also constitute "a prelude" to violating the ceasefire. "The powerful armed forces of the Islamic republic will not allow any exports or imports to continue in the Persian Gulf, the Sea of Oman, and the Red Sea," said Ali Abdollahi. He added that Iran will "act decisively to defend its national sovereignty and its interests". The United States has imposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports since Monday after US-Iran talks over the weekend in Pakistan failed to produce a deal to end the war. But maritime tracking data on Tuesday indicated that several ships sailing from Iranian ports had crossed the Strait of Hormuz despite the blockade. On Wednesday, Iran's Tasnim news agency quoted unnamed informed sources as saying that shipping from Iran's southern ports had continued. It added that Iranian "commercial vessels have set sail for various destinations around the world" during the past 24 hours. Iran is considering a short-term pause to shipments through the Strait of Hormuz to avoid testing a US blockade and scuppering a fresh round of peace talks, according to a person familiar with Tehran's deliberations, Bloomberg reported. The potential pause reflects a desire to avoid immediate escalation at a sensitive diplomatic juncture as Washington and Tehran sort logistics for another face-to-face meeting, the person said, asking not to be identified as the deliberations are private. "If Iran does indeed pause shipments it would be a sign its government too seeks de-escalation and to avoid the resumption of the hot war," said Rachel Ziemba, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security. "Pausing shipping would add to the oil market outages temporarily, though global markets would likely focus on the possibility of agreement, not the short-term outage." The Iranian embassy in the UK and the foreign ministry in Tehran didn't immediately respond to requests for comment. The US and Iran are weighing further negotiations to extend a ceasefire, Bloomberg reported Monday, as President Donald Trump presses ahead with a naval blockade to curb the Islamic Republic's oil exports. The objective is to hold fresh talks before the truce expires next week....