The U.S. Navy is enforcing a strict maritime blockade against the Islamic Republic, severing key economic lifelines by targeting Iranian oil exports and weapons-smuggling routes through the Persian Gulf while preserving freedom of navigation for regional allies.
Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, is visiting Israel and meeting with senior Israeli defense officials at IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv as the blockade is implemented along the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic waterway linking the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.
The American naval deployment significantly alters the economic and military landscape of the region, applying pressure on Tehran’s revenue streams while allowing Gulf Arab states to continue exporting energy supplies.
“The blockade applies solely to ports of Iran,” former Israeli Navy chief Vice Adm. Eliezer Marom told JNS on Tuesday. Commercial shipping originating from neighboring Gulf states retains freedom of navigation. “Whoever leaves the Emirates, whoever leaves Saudi Arabia, whoever leaves Oman, is free to go,” Marom said.
Implementing a blockade on this scale requires overwhelming intelligence superiority, Marom explained.
“To create such a blockade, what is needed? First of all, intelligence,” he said. The U.S. military generates a comprehensive maritime operational picture through aerial surveillance, satellites and unmanned systems capable of tracking vessel movements across wide maritime areas.
“You scan the sea, usually with aerial assets … whether by planes, whether by UAVs, whether by satellites. And you discover where the ships are located,” Marom said.
Addressing the legal basis for the operation, Marom added that the U.S. is acting within the context of armed conflict.
“The state of Iran and the U.S. are in a war, and it is the right of the U.S. to prevent Iran from obtaining an advantage via maritime transport of weapons,” he said.
The U.S. Navy is deploying Arleigh Burke-class destroyers equipped with AEGIS radar systems and advanced interception capabilities designed to counter missiles and other aerial threats.
“The Americans have fantastic defenses, including standard electronic warfare and anti-missile missiles, and detection capabilities with the excellent radar of the AEGIS system,” Marom said.
Iran, by contrast, faces significant limitations in maritime situational awareness, he added.
“They need a picture, without which they have nothing. They have no fleet, they have no air force, so how will they build a picture?” Marom said. “To scan such wide sea areas, one needs aircraft, satellites and intelligence capabilities. Iran lacks this.”
On Tuesday, the Washington-based Jewish Institute for National Security of America hosted a webinar examining the blockade, featuring former senior U.S. and Israeli defense officials.
Vice Adm. John Miller, former commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, explained that the enforcement mechanism applies broadly.
“The blockade specifically prohibits ships, and that’s all ships, regardless of flag or ownership, from going into Iranian ports to conduct trade,” Miller said.
The geography of the Strait of Hormuz provides a tactical advantage for blockading forces by channeling maritime traffic into narrow transit corridors.
“One of the unique things about the Strait of Hormuz and the geography that surrounds it is the fact that it naturally funnels you,” Miller noted. The chokepoint enables U.S. forces to interdict vessels attempting to breach the blockade without pursuing them across open ocean waters.
“Once we seize a vessel, we own it,” Miller said, referring to the legal and operational consequences of interdiction.
He added that vessels from third countries would not be exempt from enforcement measures.
“If a Chinese-flagged vessel is entering the Gulf with the intention of going to Kharg Island, are we going to interdict it? According to the CENTCOM statement, the answer to that is yes,” Miller said.
Vice Adm. Mark Fox, former deputy commander of U.S. Central Command, described the blockade as a significant escalation in operational terms.
“A blockade is an act of war,” Fox said, noting that the current pause in large-scale combat operations provides time to replenish weapons stocks and prepare for further contingencies.
The U.S. military is maintaining pressure along Iran’s coastline to counter asymmetric threats from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy.
“Anytime you’re flying Apaches and A-10 [attack aircraft] in the Iranian littoral, I think you’re going to be doing good work against IRGCN small boats,” Fox said.
The surveillance challenge is substantial given the geographic scope of the Iranian coastline.
“The Iranian coast is 800 nautical miles long. And so, there’s a lot of littorals there,” Fox noted, adding that monitoring Iranian proxy forces in other strategic waterways remains necessary.
“I’d be keeping an eye on the Houthis and the Bab el-Mandeb,” Fox said.
Maj. Gen. (ret.) Yaakov Amidror, former Israeli national security adviser, said the blockade creates significant leverage in negotiations.
“The ceasefire is a pause in the war, but it doesn’t determine anything. What is important is the result of the negotiations,” Amidror said.
The Iranian regime faces mounting economic pressure due to its reliance on oil exports for revenue.
“Most of the money which is coming into Iran comes by selling oil,” Amidror said, noting that maritime pressure enables economic leverage without requiring ground operations against heavily defended infrastructure such as Kharg Island.
Israel continues to maintain firm demands regarding Iran’s nuclear program.
“Sunset is not an option from our point of view relating to the enrichment of uranium in Iran,” Amidror said, rejecting proposals that would allow Tehran to resume enrichment activities after a defined period.
The evolving naval campaign underscores the central role of intelligence dominance, maritime geography and economic leverage in shaping the next phase of the confrontation with Iran.
