It's not their navy physically blocking anything, it's the threat from drones/missiles from Iran.

That being said, as incompetent as Trump is, I also have doubts about the ability of Iran to conduct a long war of attrition. 70% of their imports come from the Hormuz Strait, most of which is food. Not to mention it's also contingent on the US playing "nice" instead of crazy in the meantime (so no strikes on Kharg Island, the overworked Iranian power plants, etc.).

Iran's food exports have gone down, keeping it for themselves I guess with the Hormuz Straight closed.

Prices jump in Turkmenistan as war dries up imports from Iran

Retailers and consumers in the Turkmen capital, Ashgabat, say prices for ⁠key goods imported from ⁠nearby Iran have jumped sharply as normally lively cross-border trade is disrupted by the war.

Iran is ⁠a major supplier of core consumer goods to Turkmenistan, a mostly desert country of seven million people whose economy relies on natural gas exports, primarily ⁠to China. Iranian imports range from fruit and vegetables to construction materials and cigarettes.

“Stocks are rapidly depleting, and new shipments are not arriving. The outlook is paralysed and uncertain. We are currently selling Iranian ‌goods at a higher price, 50 to 70 percent higher,” Aman, a construction materials dealer in Ashgabat, told the Reuters news agency.

Prices for key staples imported from Iran – including potatoes, cucumbers and fruit – have doubled at Ashgabat bazaars.


Iran is the size of Western Europe, they can fight a long war of attrition. They have been living under sanctions for decades, their economy is fully adjusted to blockades etc. US isn't playing nice anyway, just bombed a bank killing all the employees which is why Iran has now abandoned the tit for tat response and dialed up the rocket fire.



So the US just made banks 'legitimate' targets in the ME. Gulf countries will sure be happy about that.


No when it comes to holding out, the US will blink long before Iran. Trump is already flaking, practically begging for a ceasefire by claiming he won, daily.


Update:

Gulf banks close branches temporarily amid escalating tensions

There is a wave of announcements coming from financial institutions across the Gulf saying that they’re closing their branches temporarily, at least till the end of this week, to ensure the safety of their employees.

This comes after one of the public financial institutions of Iran got hit in a US or Israeli attack, and Iran has responded saying they now have free rein to target financial or economic institutions associated with the US or Israel.

Among the banks, HSBC in Doha announced they’re suspending operations and in the UAE, Citibank and Standard Chartered announced the closure of their offices.

But it’s not just banks. We’ve also learned that big consulting and auditing firms, such as PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and Deloitte, are going to suspend operations. PwC specifically said that it’s closing its operations in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE.

So Iran appears to be expanding the avenues where it can pressure the countries in the Gulf to increase exposure of this conflict and apply pressure on the US.

Yeah, food and water are naturally scarce in Iran. So I can't imagine them being able to sustain this type of retaliaton for an extended period of time. That said, I'm sure they are well prepared for this situation. They weren't really surprised this. With the constant sable rattling and the strike from last year, Iran was clearly planning for this outcome. So they'd likely are going to be able to hold out longer than if this attack came as a surprise. 

All that said, I don't know what the potentional "off ramp" would be. As you've stated previously, the UN is utterly inept. Any sort of deal would need some sort of international backing and guarantees. As much as it pains me to say this, the US can't be trusted to negotiate with Iran. The last two times we've struck Iran, it was in the midst of negotations. Iran won't trust the US and/or Israel to uphold any deal reached and based on prior experience they shouldn't. With the UN being a paper tiger, how is there going to be a resolution? It were any other US President, this isn't a party thing it's a Trump thing, I'd say a chance for deal would be possible. However, Trump is an unstable narcissist.

Not that scarce:

Unlike some Gulf neighbors who import over 80-90% of their food, Iran is much more self-sufficient, ranking 43rd in the world for food imports despite its population size.

The cultivable area is 10 percent of the country's land area. Each year, 57.5 million tons of agricultural products are produced, and the annual cultivated area covers 12 million hectares.

Some products will go up in price, Wheat and Rice in particular.

As of early March 2026, Iran has banned all exports of food and agricultural products to prevent domestic shortages following an escalation in conflict. Previously, Iran was a major global exporter of pistachios (accounting for ~18% of global output), saffron (accounting for ~90% of global production), dates, tomatoes, and various fresh and dried fruits like apples and watermelons. The ban has immediately disrupted international supply chains.


Water will be the limiting factor which already was a big problem with climate change.

Iran is experiencing an severe, unprecedented "water bankruptcy" and long-term drought, with 80-100% of its renewable water resources withdrawn annually. Decades of mismanagement, over-farming, and excessive dam construction have left reservoirs, particularly around Tehran, at critical lows. Recent military actions (March 2026) have targeted infrastructure, including a desalination plant in Qeshm and other sites, threatening to exacerbate the scarcity.

Anyway starving and bombing all infrastructure in Gaza didn't stop Hamas. Iran is more prepared, big reserves, and fighting an existential war. Iran is also far more prepared and willing to sacrifice than the US economy...

The gulf states are the ones in real trouble, importing nearly all their food and heavily dependent on water desalination. They counted on US' protection, yet it's harming them rather than helping.

Oil back up to $100 US a barrel after Iran targets oil tankers, depots

Iran struck two oil tankers in Iraqi waters as well as oil depots in Bahrain and Oman on Thursday, sending the price of oil soaring over $100 US per barrel once again, despite U.S. President Donald Trump's claim that the war was already won.

Blow to Trump as Iran launches unprecedented strikes targeting US ships

Minutes after Donald Trump claimed victory over Iran, the Islamic Republic hit two American oil tankers with precision strikes. This was the first time that Iran successfully targeted an American oil tanker in the Persian Gulf. In total, Iran struck as many as six ships in the region, raising fears of a significant hike in oil prices globally. Rifat Jawaid explains why this latest development is bad news for Trump and the global economy.

War in the Middle East: New waves of missiles hit Israel

Lebanon's Hezbollah said it launched missiles at an Israeli military intelligence base in the suburbs of Tel Aviv early on Thursday, the Iran-backed group's latest claim in a major operation against Israel it announced hours earlier. Iran's Revolutionary Guards said earlier that they had carried out a joint missile operation with ally Hezbollah against targets in Israel. FRANCE 24's Noga Tarnopolsky reports from Jerusalem.

As predicted, Iran depleted the interceptors in 12 days just as last June, now Hezbollah has free aim as well.


Trump is burning his last bridges with Europe as well

‘Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq - Same Lies’: EU MPs Slams U.S. War On Iran; Blast ‘SPINELESS’ Ursula

A heated debate erupted in the European Parliament in Strasbourg as lawmakers accused the European Union of hypocrisy over the ongoing Iran war. Belgian MEP Marc Botenga sharply criticised EU leaders for condemning Iran while allegedly supporting military actions by Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu. Botenga referenced reports of a deadly strike on an Iranian school that reportedly killed around 170 people, including children, arguing that Western military interventions have historically brought “chaos and destruction” rather than democracy. Iran has blamed the United States and Israel for the attack, while Washington said it was investigating the incident and denied deliberately targeting civilians.

I know about the evils of israel and that its doing a genocide.  When i say gone insane, i mean it basically cannot exist without doing some sort of war and the war crimes with it. Its literally attacked civilians in lebanon, syria, iran. 

And i still think US is the one in control. Its just being pulled by the leash of its attack dog.

Entering the 13th day of the special Epstein operation.

Which countries have been attacked?

US forces have struck more than 5,000 targets in Iran since Saturday, the US Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees US forces in the region, said on March 10.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) says it has launched attacks on at least 27 bases in the Middle East where US troops are deployed as well as Israeli military facilities in Tel Aviv and other parts of Israel.

So far, Iran has launched strikes across nine countries in the region: Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. An Iranian drone also struck a runway at a UK military base in Cyprus.

Pretty clear who is trying to avoid civilian casualties and who is not...

According to Iran’s representative to the United Nations, Amir Saeid Iravani, at least 1,348 civilians have been killed.

• The victims’ age ranged from eight months to 88 years old
• 200 women are among those killed
• 168 children were killed in the Minab elementary school
• 55 healthcare workers were wounded and 11 killed, including four physicians, two nurses and three emergency workers

The number of people killed in Lebanon since Israel renewed widespread attacks on the country last Monday now stands at 687, according to Lebanon’s Information Minister Paul Morcos. Among those killed are 98 children. At least 1,500 people have also been wounded. A total of 750,000 people have been registered as displaced since the outbreak of the war.

At least 15 Israelis have been killed and 2,000 others wounded in Iranian attacks. The ministry urged Israelis to rush to bomb shelters “with caution”, noting that people have been injured while running to shelters. On March 1, an Iranian ballistic missile strike on central Israel’s Beit Shemesh killed nine people and injured more than 20.

The US military has confirmed seven fatalities from Iranian attacks across the region. It said on Monday that an eighth service member died of a “health-related incident” in Kuwait.



As of mid-2025, there are about 40,000 to 50,000 US soldiers in the Middle East stationed in both large, permanent bases and smaller forward sites. The countries with the most US soldiers are Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, the UAE and Saudi Arabia. These installations serve as critical hubs for US air and naval operations, regional logistics, intelligence gathering and force projection.

Israel has been committing war crimes against Palestinians since it's inception. Benjamin Netanyahu's political party, the Likud party, was founded by Menachem Begin. A man that was a literal terrorist and lead a terrorist organization called Irgun. The countries entire exist has been filled war crimes.  As I've stated before, 329 out of 435 members of the US Congress are on the take from Israel. The US President took near a quarter billion, yes BILLION, dollars from Israel. Our government is literally Israeli occupied territory. The United States is that macho guy in the marriage that everyone thinks is a bad ass but his wife, Israel, is really running the show. 

Calling it "Epstein Fury" is antisemitic says the ADL.

ADL analysts found that the phrase “Epstein Fury” - a conspiratorial reframing of Operation Epic Fury - was mentioned more than 90,000 times by some 60,000 different accounts on X within the first three days of the operation against the Iranian regime. This is part of a sharp rise in antisemitic content we've seen since the operation began.

https://x.com/ADL/status/2031537931043721514

Reminder the ADL was founded to defend Leo Frank, who was convicted to have r+ped and m+rdered a thirteen year old girl.