Sorry Haters, Trump’s Iran Naval Blockade Is Working

If you spend any time on social media, such as X or Threads, as I’m required to do, you would have seen the Democrats, naysayers, anti-Americans, Trump-haters, and Iranian sock puppets, claiming within hours of President Trump’s declared Iran blockade on Monday morning, that it had failed.

Some even claimed this was a victory for the Iranian regime. To make their point, some noted that a sanctioned ship, the Rich Starry, headed to China had crossed through the Strait of Hormuz, proving the blockade had failed and that Trump blinked when facing a Chinese ship.

Iran also pounded its collective chest threatening to attack U.S. warships, even posting old video of their fast attack boats firing rockets.

Iran posts archival video of small speed boats, as the US blockade takes effect.
by u/Long-Brother-4639 in maritime

Sadly, for the critics, no remaining Iranian fast boats still floating have gotten anywhere near a U.S. warship. On Monday, Trump warned that if Iranian navy fast-attack boats came near the U.S. blockade, “they will be immediately ELIMINATED, using the same system of kill that we use against the drug dealers on boats at Sea.”

Iran appears to be listening.

And the Rich Starry, which had been broadcasting “China owners and Crew” when it began its voyage out the strait on Tuesday, turned back soon after and crossed back through the Strait heading into the Persian Gulf.

While the ship didn’t appear to have visited an Iranian port, its movements appeared to indicate it may have paid a toll to Iran to pass the strait. And President Trump had made it clear on Truth Social that: “No one who pays an illegal toll will have safe passage on the high seas.”

The ship is also on a U.S. blacklist for helping Tehran evade sanctions.

TankerTrackers.com, the shipping intelligence company, said in a post on Tuesday: “Her AIS signals make you believe that RICH STARRY (9773301) is laden with refined products from the UAE but she is actually a serial AIS spoofer and a designated sanctions violator with a history of transporting Iranian refined products.”

This last retreat marks the second time in 48 hours that the Chinese ship turned back rather than face the U.S. Navy. So, no, a Chinese ship did not cross the U.S. Navy blockade. The blockade of Iranian ports is working, even against Chinese ships.

“During the first 24 hours, no ships made it past the U.S. blockade and six merchant vessels complied with direction from U.S. forces to turn around to reenter an Iranian port on the Gulf of Oman,” Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a post on Tuesday.

CENTCOM added that the blockade, which began at 10 a.m. Eastern Time on Monday, was being “enforced impartially against vessels of all nations entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas.”

We should also note an important distinction. While Trump earlier said we were blockading the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. military leaders clarified that the blockade was against ships leaving Iranian ports or coastal areas, not all ships crossing the Strait.

U.S. forces “will not impede freedom of navigation for vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz to and from non-Iranian ports.” This is an important distinction that wannabe naval experts on X and Threads should try to understand.

Still, other so-called experts repeatedly warned that Trump’s blockade was a reckless, risky, and dangerous gamble, with little chance of success. So far, they have been proven dead wrong as well.

Trump’s bold strategy involves strangling the Iranian economy by keeping ships from entering or exiting the country’s ports while eliminating Tehran’s chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, retired Adm. James Stavridis and former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe, said in an interview with CNN on Sunday.

With Iran’s military degraded, internal political dissent starting to rumble and other problems plaguing the country, the regime in Tehran has few options and may be looking for an exit, he added.

Meanwhile, even CNN was admitting Trump’s blockade “gamble” may pay off:

President Donald Trump’s switch from kinetic to economic warfare with his blockade of Iran’s ships and ports is an attempt to end the conflict without a new US-Israeli onslaught.

The operation’s rationale is that if Iran can’t export its oil and import vital commodities, it will suffer such ruinous financial and humanitarian consequences that it will have no choice but to accept US terms to end the war.

This may be a sound bet. An economy already shattered by sanctions could quickly suffer critical food shortages, hyperinflation and a banking crisis. It would be a neat solution if Trump matched Iran’s bid to strangle the global economy by partially closing the Strait of Hormuz with his own decisive maritime maneuver.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.

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