Iran’s regime has tried to make this war all about economics, and now it is getting its wish. Since Monday the U.S. Navy has quarantined Iranian ports, blocking ships from entering or exiting the Strait of Hormuz for the purpose of commerce with Iran. The economic damage to the regime is immediate, and the pain will grow the longer the blockade is sustained.
Damaged residential building in Tehran on Tuesday. MAJID SAEEDI/GETTY IMAGES
The best estimates we have are from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Miad Maleki, who led the U.S. Treasury’s sanctions campaign against Iran until last year. He writes that the blockade is expected to wipe out $435 million in Iranian economic activity a day and force oil-field shut-ins within two weeks.
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