News Summary

• U.S. imposed a naval blockade on Iranian maritime trade, attempting to shut down the country’s economic lifeline.
• Iran does not have many interchangeable ports, but has one dominant gateway, surrounded by smaller and less capable alternatives.
• A blockade is not an instant weapon.
• It is a slow instrument of pressure.
• It works over time, not overnight.
• The risk is not that the blockade fails, but that it is judged too early and if collapse does not occur quickly, it will not.