Strait of Hormuz blockade shifts US strategy to squeeze Iran’s economy | This is America

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In this episode of This is America, hosted by Anna Burns‑Francis, Al Jazeera examines how the Strait of Hormuz has become the new front line in the US–Iran war, and why Washington is now betting on economic pressure rather than air power to force Tehran back to the table. After six weeks of US and Israeli strikes failed to secure a breakthrough – and 21 hours of talks in Islamabad ended without a deal – the President has ordered a naval blockade designed to choke off Iran’s main source of income: oil and gas exports flowing through one of the world’s most strategic waterways. From our Washington, DC bureau to the White House and Wall Street, the programme tracks how this marks a sharp shift from the administration’s earlier, often confusing objective of keeping oil prices low by easing restrictions on Iranian barrels already at sea. Alan Fisher reports live from the White House on a strategy that aims to turn the Strait of Hormuz – through which roughly 20 percent of global oil and 30 percent of fertiliser trade normally pass – into an economic pressure point. By stopping new Iranian cargoes while insisting other traffic can flow, the US hopes to raise the cost of Tehran’s control over the strait, sap its foreign‑currency earnings and walk into any second round of talks with a stronger hand, even if that risks US Navy ships coming face‑to‑face with Iranian forces or proxies. At the Watergate Exxon station, Richard Gaisford takes the temperature of everyday Americans now paying close to six dollars a gallon. Voters tell This is America they are being asked to absorb “short‑term pain for long‑term gain” as fuel and food prices rise, disposable incomes shrink and talk of “mutually assured economic pain” stops being an abstract phrase and starts showing up on household budgets. From the New York Stock Exchange, Kristen Saloomey explains why markets have so far rallied on strong corporate earnings and hopes of a quick resolution, even as higher energy costs push up inflation and dash expectations of interest‑rate cuts – prompting warnings from the IMF that a prolonged conflict risks tipping the global economy towards recession. In the studio, economist Alan Tonelson and former US Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs PJ Crowley join Anna Burns‑Francis to unpack what a full‑scale naval blockade really means in practice – and in law. They compare the President’s use of a “quarantine‑style” tactic, rarely deployed since the Cuban missile crisis and more recently in Venezuela, with previous sanctions campaigns against Iran, asking whether a coercive but reversible tool can really deliver concessions on nuclear enrichment, missiles and regional proxies. The discussion weighs the assumption that a $31 trillion US economy can endure more pain than Iran’s far smaller, sanction‑hardened system, and explores how Tehran might respond with asymmetrical tactics – from mines and drones in the Gulf to renewed Houthi harassment of Red Sea shipping – that could close off alternative routes. Manuel Rapalo returns to analyse how US media outlets and online commentators are framing this new phase: as decisive economic statecraft, as “a blockade of a blockade” that could entangle more countries, or as a high‑risk gamble that underestimates Iran’s ability to ride out pressure. Alex Baird rounds up the social‑media reaction, from triumphant claims that Iran is “in a box” and days away from economic collapse, to critics warning of “economic terrorism”, blowback for China as Iran’s main oil buyer, and fears that maximalist demands leave both sides locked into a long test of endurance neither can easily escape. This is America asks whether the White House’s shifting strategy in the Strait of Hormuz brings the war closer to an end – or merely deepens a dangerous experiment in economic warfare that could redraw the geopolitics of energy far beyond Iran’s shores. Subscribe to our channel: http://bit.ly/AJSubscribe Follow us on X: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera Check our website: http://www.aljazeera.com/ Check out our Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/aljazeeraenglish/ Download AJE Mobile App: https://aje.news/AJEMobile #StraitOfHormuz #US #DonaldTrump #CENTCOM #Iran #USIranTalks #USIranCeasefire #USIsraelWarOnIran #USIranTensions #MiddleEastTensions #USIranWar #IranWar #OperationEpicFury #AlJazeeraEnglish