President Donald Trump has instructed aides to prepare to extend a maritime blockade on Iran, The Wall Street Journal reported April 28, citing sources. The report said Trump is leaning toward keeping economic pressure on Iran through the blockade as he seeks a decisive victory but lacks a clear exit strategy.
According to the report, Trump favored maintaining economic pressure through the blockade and related measures in a series of recent meetings, including a Situation Room session on April 27. Sources said he also weighed options such as resuming airstrikes and quickly declaring an end to the war, but concluded those choices carried greater risk than the current blockade.
Since a ceasefire with Iran on April 7, the United States has limited military action while intensifying economic pressure through the maritime blockade, restricting the movement of tankers and other vessels to and from Iran. Bloomberg News, citing commodities analytics firm Kpler, reported the day before that the blockade has caused crude inventories to build inside Iran, leaving only about 12 to 22 days of usable oil storage capacity.
A senior U.S. official said the blockade is inflicting severe damage on Iran’s economy and that Iran’s leadership, under economic strain, has offered negotiations to the United States. Over the weekend, reports said Iran, through mediators, proposed a “three-stage peace plan”: first, a halt to U.S. military action; second, talks on reopening the Strait of Hormuz; and third, discussions on Iran’s nuclear program.
But sources said Trump and his national security team concluded that accepting such a proposal would weaken U.S. leverage to secure nuclear concessions from Iran. They said the administration is not willing to abandon its position that Iran must halt uranium enrichment for 20 years.
In that context, the Journal said Trump is satisfied with keeping the maritime blockade in place indefinitely. Trump wrote on social media platform Truth Social, “Iran just told us they are in a ‘state of collapse,’” adding, “They want us to open the Strait of Hormuz as soon as possible while they try to resolve their leadership situation.”
The Journal said that if the U.S. blockade continues, Iran could seek to pressure Washington by resuming strikes on energy facilities in the Middle East or attacking U.S. warships enforcing the blockade. It added that a prolonged blockade could also prolong high oil prices, potentially creating political headwinds for Trump and Republicans ahead of this year’s midterm elections.
The report also said Trump is receiving conflicting advice from close associates about the next steps in the Iran war. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and others have urged maintaining pressure on Iran, while business figures have called for ending the war, warning that a prolonged conflict would deepen economic damage and could be politically costly in the coming midterm elections.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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