Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy said its forces continue to decide which ships can use the Strait of Hormuz, while Washington threatened new sanctions and kept talking up economic punishment as if civilians and shipping lanes were just pieces on a board.
The Strait as a State Weapon
An Iranian parliamentary committee approved the principles of a strategic plan governing security and development in the strait and the Gulf, and Valiullah Bayati, a spokesperson for the parliament’s internal affairs and councils committee, said on Friday that the proposals would now advance for further consideration. Bayati said, “The strategic action plan to ensure the security and progress of the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf was reviewed by the Councils’ Commission and, after hearing the opinions, its general outline was approved.” He said the plan would prevent vessels and equipment belonging to the US, Israel and other countries Iran designates as hostile from passing through the waterway because, he said, those countries had used the Strait of Hormuz to carry out hostile actions against Iran and had committed unjust and aggressive acts against the Iranian people.
Rear Admiral Ali Ozmaei made the monopoly on movement even plainer. “The Strait of Hormuz is closed. Our control over movements is complete and decisive,” he said. He added, “No movement in this strait escapes the eyes of the IRGC Navy fighters,” and said that “the reality should be seen in the field, not in the communiques and statements of US officials.” Shipping data cited in the report said maritime analytics company Kpler recorded nine commodity vessels passing through Hormuz on Thursday, up from five on Wednesday but still below August’s daily average of 12. The data said five ships entered the Gulf and four sailed towards the Gulf of Oman, with most using the Iranian shipping channel, and it excluded vessels operating with their tracking equipment switched off.
Washington’s Economic Siege
Washington answered with more threats. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the Trump administration would announce new measures against Tehran next week. Bessent said, “Watch this space for more announcements coming next week because we are going to apply measures that have never been seen in the history of economic isolation on a country.” He added, “It will be a combination of economic isolation the world has never seen before, and the continued blockade in the Strait of Hormuz that will keep anything from going in or out of the Iranian ports.” The report said the US military remains unable to break Iran’s grip on one of the world’s most important energy corridors.
The state machinery on both sides keeps grinding, and ordinary people pay the bill in fuel prices, shipping disruption, and the usual patriotic theater. Oil markets reacted to Washington’s threat to maintain its naval blockade indefinitely, with Brent crude climbing above $88 a barrel on Friday and West Texas Intermediate rising beyond $82.
The Cost of Imperial Overreach
The military strain inside the US system showed up too. The report said the US is sending the USS George Washington toward the Middle East to relieve the USS Abraham Lincoln, whose crew has spent more than 260 days at sea. It said the deployment would leave the Pacific without a US aircraft carrier for an undetermined period, exposing the widening military cost of Washington’s Iran campaign. Families and lawmakers have raised the alarm about shortages, unsanitary conditions and deteriorating mental health aboard the Lincoln.
California Representative Mike Levin and three other lawmakers demanded an explanation from the Pentagon, saying that “the plans in the works to relieve the USS Lincoln are not enough.” The US Central Command rejected reports that sailors had died aboard the carrier, saying that “the Sailors and Marines of the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group remain resilient and resolved after more than 260 days at sea.” US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, or the “Secretary of War,” as he likes to be called, dismissed reports of worsening conditions as “completely misrepresented.” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer demanded Hegseth’s dismissal, saying, “When Pete Hegseth was nominated, everyone knew he was completely incompetent. Now our brave sailors are paying the price in a horrific and unfathomable way,” and adding, “Pete Hegseth must be fired immediately.”
Tehran is also looking for ways around US-controlled financial institutions. The report said Iran’s Central Bank governor, Abdolnaser Hemmati, said Iran would soon join the Brics-backed New Development Bank, although the lender has not confirmed its accession. Another bloc, another institution, another promise of escape through a different gate in the same fortress system. The names change. The choke points don’t.