![](\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/img-assets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/9559074-e1776009533134.jpg?w=2048\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
President Donald Trump announced Sunday that the U.S. Navy would immediately impose a blockade\u00a0on the Strait of Hormuz after ceasefire talks with Iran failed to produce a deal.<\/p>\n
That would turn the tables on the Islamic republic, which has effectively kept the narrow waterway closed with missile and drone strikes, keeping one-fifth of the world\u2019s oil and liquid natural gas bottled up in the Persian Gulf. <\/p>\n
At the same time as it\u2019s been halting global supplies, Iran is letting its own oil exports through the strait, capitalizing on the massive spike in prices for crude. <\/p>\n
But a U.S. blockade of Hormuz would cut off the financial windfall Tehran is reaping and further hobble an economy that was crashing even before the war started six weeks ago.<\/p>\n
Retired Admiral James Stavridis, who previously served as NATO\u2019s supreme allied commander, estimated that blockading the Strait of Hormuz would require two aircraft carrier strike groups that would provide air cover, plus a dozen destroyers and frigates operating outside the Persian Gulf. <\/p>\n
Another half dozen U.S. warships as well as vessels from the UAE and Saudi navies would also be needed inside the Gulf, he told CNN on Sunday. <\/p>\n
\u201cSo you try and bottle it up on both sides,\u201d Stavridis added. \u201cThe bottom line: this is a big task, and it\u2019s a big gamble.\u201d<\/p>\n
Just before the U.S. and Israel began bombing Iran, 18 warships were in the Middle East, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies. That included two aircraft carriers and the escort ships that are part of each strike group.<\/p>\n
Since the war started, the U.S. has deployed a Marine Expeditionary Unit, which typically includes three warships and more than 2,000 Marines. Another MEU and a third carrier strike group are on the way to the Middle East.<\/p>\n
Marines fire rifles during a deck shoot aboard the forward-deployed amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli (LHA 7), in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility during Operation Epic Fury, April 2, 2026.<\/p>\n
U.S. Marine Corps<\/p>\n
Stavridis characterized a blockade of the strait as falling halfway between leaving it under Iranian control and Trump\u2019s earlier threat to wipe out Iran as a civilization.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt puts economic pressure on Tehran without destroying the oil facilities, which you should want to preserve into the future,\u201d he said. \u201cSo big complicated undertaking, hardly a trivial move on the chess board we\u2019ve been watching.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cutting off the trickle of oil that\u2019s been coming out of the Persian Gulf would likely send energy markets into more turmoil. Futures have already soared, and prices for delivery of physical barrels are even higher as shortages mount. <\/p>\n
Markets would also fear renewed fighting since a blockade would be perceived as a hostile act that triggers retaliation from Iran. U.S. warships near the strait could be vulnerable as Navy officials previously have described it as an\u00a0Iranian \u201ckill box\u201d\u00a0filled with numerous threats, including anti-ship missiles, drones, fast-attack boats, and mines.<\/p>\n
But two destroyers crossed the strait on Saturday to begin setting conditions for clearing mines and eventually establishing \u201ca new passage\u201d for the maritime industry for the free flow of commerce.<\/p>\n
Stavridis said that Iranian ships could try to look for ways around a blockade to smuggle oil or deploy more mines. He also warned Russia and China could come to Iran aid with cyberattacks.<\/p>\n
Despite the risks of a blockade, analysts have touted it as an option that would avoid putting boots on the ground.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe U.S. can implode Iran\u2019s economy by shutting down its oil exports,\u201d Robin Brooks, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution,\u00a0wrote in a Substack\u00a0on March 13. \u201cThat might open up the Strait of Hormuz a lot faster than anything else. Time to implode Iran\u2019s economy and give the Ayatollahs a taste of their own medicine.\u201d<\/p>\n
While he has been skeptical that the U.S. Navy has enough ships to escort all the tankers that typically transit the Strait of Hormuz, he said it has the resources to blockade Iran\u2019s oil exports.<\/p>\n
Removing more supply from global oil markets should send prices even higher, but Brooks argued crude might do the opposite if a U.S. blockade is seen ending the war quickly.<\/p>\n
China, which buys most of Iran\u2019s oil, would be incentivized to lobby Tehran to reopen the strait, and a blockade of Iran\u2019s exports would deprive the regime of hard currency needed to prop up its war machine, he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cAn embargo of Iranian oil, if the collapse in Iran\u2019s economy is deep enough, could convince markets that the closure of the Strait might end sooner rather than later. As a result, Brent might only spike briefly or even fall,\u201d\u00a0Brooks wrote in a later post.<\/p>\n
#Heres #U.S #naval #blockade #Strait #Hormuz #work<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
President Donald Trump announced Sunday that the U.S. Navy would immediately impose a blockade\u00a0on the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[245],"tags":[4906,410,504,376,859,3361,303,503,722,790,845],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3701"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3701"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3701\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}