Kamal Ghorui
After a month-long war and depleted infrastructure, economic strains can multiply for Iran following Unites States’ decision to blockade its ports at the Strait of Hormuz after the talks between both the sides faltered in Pakistan last weekend.The blockade could cost Iran up to $435 million or Rs 4,081 crore a day in economic damage, including $276 million in lost exports, mostly of crude oil and petrochemicals, the Wall Street Journal reported.Meanwhile, analysts said that Iran’s potential loss depends on several unknown factors, including how impenetrable the US’ blockade turns out to be, and to what extent Iran will be able to reroute oil exports through the Jask terminal outside the Strait of Hormuz. The short-term damage will also be offset by oil Iran already has on the water. As of late March, Iran had an estimated 154 million barrels floating outside the blockage-affected Gulf, according to Kpler.“The US quarantine of Iran’s ports will cost Iran about $435 million a day in economic damage,” Miad Maleki, a former official with the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, told WSJ.According to the report, the move will also block Iran’s energy exports to China, which gets 45 t0 50 per cent of its crude oil and 30 per cent of its liquefied natural gas imports through the strait. Trump can also give Bejing an incentive to join him in that pressure campaign.This comes as Trump announced to blockade the narrow chokepoint in the Middle East after delegates of US and Iran could reach a agreement in Pakistan’s Islamabad.Earlier, Iran had halted nearly all tankers, allowing only some ships perceived as friendly to pass while charging a levy.US President Donald Trump ordered a blockade of ships entering or leaving Iranian ports and coastal areas in the Gulf Sunday.However, successfully enforcing the blockade will require a sustained commitment of US Navy ships and personnel, as well as clear guidance from the Trump administration and the Navy’s legal department, according to a report by Associated Press.The US Navy has assembled a formidable maritime presence in the region, with at least 15 warships deployed under Central Command. These include the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and a fleet of guided-missile destroyers, many of them from the Arleigh Burke-class — widely considered the backbone of American surface naval power.These destroyers are expected to play a central role in enforcing the blockade. Designed for versatility, they combine speed, stealth, and firepower, carrying advanced missile systems capable of engaging threats from air, sea, and below the surface. Their mission in the Strait of Hormuz is expected to include intercepting vessels, conducting inspections, and deterring Iranian retaliation.US officials have indicated that the blockade will target ships entering or leaving Iranian ports, while allowing transit between non-Iranian destinations. In practice, this means vessels could be stopped, searched, and either cleared or turned back .Meanwhile, Iran slammed a US blockade around its ports as a “grave violation” of its sovereignty.“The imposition of a maritime blockade constitutes a grave violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations Amir Saeid Iravani wrote to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, in a letter seen by news agency AFP.The “unlawful” blockade also “constitutes a serious violation of the fundamental principles of the international law of the sea,” Iravani added.
