SPLIT, CROATIA – MARCH 29: The American aircraft carrier USS Gerald Ford arrives in Split as part of a planned visit and technical maintenance after months of missions and war operations in the Middle East, on March 29, 2026 in Split, Croatia.
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The U.S. blockade of Iranian ports is now in full effect, “completely” cutting off Iran’s international maritime trade, which supports about 90% of Iran’s economy, U.S. Central Command announced late Tuesday.
The announcement comes at a time when the White House is hinting at a diplomatic solution to the Middle East conflict, with ongoing talks on continuing negotiations with the Iranian government.
“The Iranian port blockade was fully implemented as the U.S. military maintains maritime superiority in the Middle East,” Centcom Commander Brad Cooper said, stressing that the blockade was achieved within 36 hours of President Donald Trump’s order.
“The U.S. military has completely suspended economic trade in and out of Iran by sea.”
More than 90% of Iran’s $109.7 billion in annual seaborne trade passes through the Strait of Hormuz, and Iran has no significant alternative trade routes, said Miad Maleki, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a nonpartisan think tank in Washington.
Maleki estimates that the blockade will cost Iran a total of about $435 million a day in economic damage.
The U.S. blockade, which went into effect on Monday amid a two-week ceasefire in limbo, involves more than 10,000 U.S. troops, more than a dozen naval ships and fighter jets in the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea, the U.S. military said.
The U.S. military said no ships broke through the U.S. blockade in the first 24 hours, and six commercial ships were ordered to turn back to re-enter Iranian ports in the Gulf of Oman.
Maritime intelligence firm Windward has identified at least two ships that passed through the Strait of Hormuz in the first full day under active U.S. enforcement, including the Chinese-owned tanker Rich Starry, which is subject to U.S. sanctions and left the Gulf on Tuesday.
“Strait traffic remains limited and focused on sanctioned, false flagged and high-risk vessels, with early enforcement signals shaping vessel behavior,” Windward analysts said in a new report.
Iran has closed the Strait of Hormuz, which carried about one-fifth of the world’s pre-war oil supplies, in retaliation for a joint U.S.-Israeli attack on Iranian territory that began on February 28.
A U.S. naval blockade could further disrupt the flow of energy through the vital waterway and risks straining U.S. relations with countries such as China and India, which are among the major buyers of Iranian oil.
China said on Tuesday that the US blockade of Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz was a “dangerous and irresponsible act” that would only further escalate tensions in the region.
The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday cut its forecast for global growth in 2026 to 3.1% from 3.3% in January and warned that the world is heading toward an “adverse scenario” in which oil prices could remain around $100 a barrel.
Signs of a diplomatic solution to the Middle East conflict took some pressure off the oil market, with U.S. crude oil futures for May delivery down 0.88% to $90.4 a barrel as of 8:35 p.m. ET. International benchmark Brent crude oil futures for June delivery fell 0.31% to $94.47 per barrel.
