President Donald Trump has tacitly endorsed the idea of the U.S. imposing its own naval blockade against Iran if the country fails to abide by its terms of the ceasefire reached early this week.
On Saturday night, Trump shared a piece of analysis on Truth Social, published by the digital news website JustTheNews.com, which argued that the U.S. could reprise a strategy used before the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, by restricting the country’s maritime exports and imports to “choke an already teetering Iranian economy.”
Newsweek has contacted the White House via email for comment.
Why It Matters
Trump’s post comes after talks between U.S. and Iranian officials in Pakistan, at which the two sides failed to reach a deal that would end hostilities or reinforce the ceasefire agreement announced on Tuesday.
What To Know
Since the announcement of the truce, there have emerged substantial disagreements between the two nations regarding its terms as well as accusations of violations from both sides.
Trump said that the suspension of U.S. strikes would require the “COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz,” a vital maritime corridor the closure of which has sent global oil prices soaring. But Iran’s military continues to block most transits through the shipping lane, while maintaining that ongoing Israeli bombardments against targets in Lebanon violate one of its own conditions for a ceasefire.
The article reposted by Trump cites several experts who argued that the U.S. Navy would be able to restrict Iran’s maritime oil exports—”out-blockade Iran’s hold over the Strait of Hormuz”—to place pressure on the country’s negotiators if they continue to reject the U.S.’ terms for a peace deal.
Part of this strategy could involve the U.S. occupying the island of Kharg, through which the vast majority of Iran’s oil exports pass.
“If the war resumes and after we degrade Iran’s remaining military assets sufficiently, the U.S. military could choose to occupy Kharg—or to destroy it,” military strategist and retired General Jack Keane wrote in a column for the New York Post this week. “Alternatively, the U.S. Navy could set up a blockade, shutting down Tehran’s export lifeline.”
“If we preserve Kharg’s infrastructure, but take physical control, we’d have a chokehold over Iran’s oil and its economy,” Keane added.
What People Are Saying
National security analyst Rebecca Grant told JustTheNews.com: “It would be very easy for the U.S. Navy to exert complete control over what does and does not go up and down the strait now. I’ve heard about 10 ships have moved in the last 24 hours. One of them was a reflagged Russian tanker, and we know that cargoes have gone out to China, to India, and we’ve seen some inbound traffic.”
“If Iran gets intransigent, then absolutely, the U.S. Navy can set up with great overwater surveillance…and watch everything that goes in and out of that strait and you’ll have to ask the U.S. Navy if you want to move past Kharg Island or past that narrow part by Oman,” Grant added.
Vice President JD Vance, following the negotiations in Pakistan, told a press conference: “We have been at it now for 21 hours, and we’ve had a number of substantive discussions with the Iranians. That’s the good news. The bad news is that we have not reached an agreement. And I think that’s bad news for Iran much more than it’s bad news for the United States of America.”
What Happens Next
The Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who was party to the talks in Pakistan, said that the U.S. had “ultimately failed to gain the trust of the Iranian delegation in this round of negotiations.”
But Vance said the U.S. had not received firm commitments on its central priority, namely that Iran “will not seek a nuclear weapon, and they will not seek the tools that would enable them to quickly achieve a nuclear weapon”
Prior to the negotiations, Trump had warned that the U.S. was “ready to go,” and told the New York Post that U.S. warships were being restocked to resume strikes on the country if these fell short of a substantive agreement.
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