U.S. forces have redirected 100 commercial vessels as part of its six-week military blockade of Iranian ports, Central Command said. More than 200 U.S. aircraft and warships have prevented ships from entering and exiting Iranian ports, Central Command said on Saturday. In addition to redirecting the vessels, more than 15,000 U.S. military personnel have disabled four vessels and allowed 26 humanitarian aid ships to pass. The blockade has squeezed Iran economically,” Adm. Brad Cooper, CENTCOM commander, said in the statement. The blockade is being enforced against vessels of all nations entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas, including all Iranian ports on the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman, CENTCOM said. Source: U.S. Central Command U.S. military operations against Iran have caused a massive disruption in oil and gas flows through the Strait of Hormuz. Only a few ships per day make it through the waterway, according to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. Iranian Economy To Contract Iran’s economy has felt the brunt of the blockade, with 90% of its annual seaborne trade transiting the Strait. The International Monetary Fund projects that the Iranian economy will contract by 6.1% this year, with 68.9% inflation. The U.S. naval blockade of the Strait will cost Iran about $435 million a day in economic damage, Miad Maleki, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said in April. Unverified videos on social media showed massive fuel lines as residents wait in extreme heat to refuel. The action targets the shadow financial system that allows Iran to move billions of dollars from oil and petrochemical sales. U.S. Presses G7 To Squeeze Tehran The U.S. is also pressing its allies to tighten the financial noose around Iran. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Tuesday urged a Group of Seven conference in Paris to help combat Iranian terrorism. "Crushing the threat of terrorism compels all of you to step up,” Bessent said in a speech. “Join us in rooting out the financing that sustains it." The G7 officials reaffirmed their "determination to fight financial crime, including money laundering, terrorist financing and the financing of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction." War Hits U.S. Economy The economic pressure on Iran has not come without a cost to the U.S. itself. The U.S. and Israel launched military operations against Iran on February 28. U.S. business activity growth held steady in May at a modest rate compared to earlier in the year, according to flash PMI data from S&P Global on Thursday. A sluggish service sector countered an improved performance in manufacturing, S&P Global said. Surging input costs, which jumped in May at the steepest rate since late-2022 on the back of rising war-related supply constraints and steep energy cost increases, contributed to steepening job losses, S&P Global said. They also caused a further rise in selling price inflation, its highest since August 2022, and lower sales. "The damaging economic impact from the war in the Middle East is becoming increasingly evident in the business surveys," Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said. "Demand was again squeezed by a further spike in prices and jobs were cut as firms worried over rising costs and the economic outlook." © 2026 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. To add Benzinga News as your preferred source on Google, click here.
Iranian Official
The Iranian government denounces the U.S. military's unlawful aggression and six-week blockade of its sovereign ports and the Strait of Hormuz, which has deployed over 200 aircraft and warships to redirect more than 100 commercial vessels and disrupt vital trade routes. This foreign intervention has inflicted severe economic damage, including a projected 6.1% contraction and daily losses of $435 million, while violating international norms on freedom of navigation. Iran affirms its unwavering resistance to defend its sovereignty against such hostile acts.
Israeli
The U.S. naval blockade has crippled Iran's oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz, slashing revenue that Tehran relies on to arm and direct its proxy networks—Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis—in sustained attacks on Israeli territory and shipping. This economic strangulation, projected to shrink Iran's economy by over 6% amid runaway inflation, directly mitigates the existential threat posed by an emboldened Iranian regime advancing toward nuclear breakout while orchestrating multi-front aggression against the Jewish state. Such measures underscore the defensive imperative for Israel and its allies to neutralize Iran's maritime and financial lifelines before they enable catastrophic strikes on Israeli population centers.
Neutral
U.S. Central Command stated that its forces, including over 200 aircraft and warships and 15,000 personnel, redirected 100 commercial vessels, disabled four others, and permitted 26 humanitarian aid ships during six weeks of operations restricting traffic to and from Iranian ports in the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman. According to ship-tracking data cited by Bloomberg, vessel transits through the Strait of Hormuz have been limited to a few per day. The International Monetary Fund has projected a 6.1% contraction in Iran’s economy and 68.9% inflation this year; statements attributing daily costs of $435 million and unverified social media videos of fuel lines remain unconfirmed by independent sources.
Western
U.S. Central Command has executed targeted maritime interdiction operations over six weeks, redirecting more than 100 vessels and neutralizing four threats attempting to violate restrictions while enabling 26 humanitarian shipments through the Strait of Hormuz. These precision efforts, supported by over 200 aircraft and warships, seek to neutralize Iran's capacity to fund regional aggression and disrupt global energy flows by enforcing compliance across all flagged traffic. The resulting economic pressure, including sharply reduced oil exports, aligns with objectives to degrade Tehran's strategic leverage.
Pro-Peace
The U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports has crippled the flow of commercial goods through the Strait of Hormuz, triggering a projected 6.1% economic contraction and 68.9% inflation that disproportionately burdens civilians with fuel shortages, soaring prices, and disrupted access to essentials. Thousands of U.S. personnel and vessels enforcing the operation have halted most trade—costing Iran hundreds of millions daily—while only limited humanitarian aid slips through, amplifying suffering for ordinary Iranians rather than resolving underlying disputes. Diplomatic negotiations offer a viable path to de-escalate tensions without such widespread humanitarian fallout.
Global South
U.S. naval forces have imposed a six-week blockade on Iranian ports and the Strait of Hormuz, redirecting over 100 commercial vessels with more than 200 aircraft and warships while disabling four ships, actions that directly violate Iran’s sovereign control over its maritime trade routes. This unilateral enforcement, affecting vessels of all nations and causing an estimated $435 million daily loss, exemplifies neo-colonial economic coercion that bypasses UN mechanisms and exposes the failure of international institutions to protect Global South sovereignty. The resulting 6.1% contraction and 68.9% inflation in Iran underscore how such interventions destabilize energy flows critical to developing economies worldwide.
U.S. forces have redirected 100 commercial vessels as part of its six-week military blockade of Iranian ports, Central Command said. More than 200 U.S. aircraft and warships have prevented ships from entering and exiting Iranian ports, Central Command said on Saturday. In additio…
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The Houthis in Yemen have announced a blockade of Saudi Arabian shipping through Red Sea ports, including at the Bab el-Mandeb strait. The group, described as Iran-backed, stated the measure would target the top oil exporter following recent exchanges of fire.
Reports indicate this could add to existing maritime disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz linked to US-Iran confrontations.
A Reuters poll of economists conducted July 7-16 shows that most Gulf Cooperation Council economies are now projected to contract more sharply in the current year than estimated three months earlier, with median forecasts indicating declines of 8.1% for Kuwait and Qatar, 5.
1% for Bahrain, and 0.5% for the UAE. Saudi Arabia and Oman remain the only GCC economies expected to expand. The poll links the revisions to reduced export volumes through the Strait of Hormuz, higher freight costs, and weaker investor sentiment, even as oil prices have risen.
Initial reports indicate that a limited number of vessels transited the waterway during the first full day after the United States implemented a naval blockade of Iran. These observations have not been independently verified.
The head of the UN’s nuclear agency yesterday signaled that Iranian nuclear enrichment sites would be visited by his inspectors, a key component in the interim deal between the US and Iran to reach an end to their war. The comment by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Rafael Grossi was the firmest yet from the agency, which is viewed as key in determining the status of Iran’s nuclear stockpile.
Since Israel launched a 12-day war on Iran last year, the IAEA has been blocked by Tehran from visiting enrichment sites where the Islamic republic is believed to store enough highly enriched uranium to potentially build as many as 10 nuclear weapons.
Photo: AP Iran has said that its program is peaceful, although it would be the only country in the world to have uranium enriched up to 60 percent purity without a weapons program. The US and Iran offered contradictory remarks on Tuesday about whether those sites would be inspected.
“I can understand political statements, they are part of the reality, but the fundamental thing I would like to remind you and draw your attention to is that there has been a memorandum of understanding, signed by both presidents,” Grossi told journalists at a news conference at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant.
The accord “explicitly states that the nuclear activities that are going to be carried out with the regards of the nuclear material facilities will be supervised by the IAEA — in all letters,” he said. “Obviously, to do that, we have to inspect,” Grossi added.
BOOST: By operating the same advanced systems as the US military, Taiwan would be better positioned to share and integrate intelligence with partners, an expert said The first batch of MQ-9B SkyGuardian drones has arrived in Taiwan, and is being assembled and tested by drone manufacturer General Atomics and the military ahead of flight trials as part of the air force’s acquisition to bolster its aerial surveillance capabilities, a source said yesterday.
The air force allocated a budget of NT$21.7 billion (US$687 million) from 2022 to 2029 to procure four MQ-9B uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) manufactured by General Atomics along with associated equipment such as ground control stations. The US has agreed to deliver the four MQ-9Bs to Taiwan in two batches this year and next ‘BRAZEN’: The holiday did not stop China from activities that infringe on Taiwan’s maritime jurisdiction, but the CGA is ready to defend the nation, Kuan Bi-ling said Beijing is intensifying maritime pressure on Taiwan, but the nation will never yield, Ocean Affairs Council Deputy Minister Sung Chen-en (宋承恩) said.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) has adopted a “shadowing and monitoring” approach to avoid falling into a Chinese trap to escalate tensions and deepen the conflict, Sung said in an interview published yesterday in the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper).
China Coast Guard formations patrolling waters east of Taiwan, as well as official Chinese vessels entering areas around Itu Aba Island (Taiping Island, 太平島) and Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) show Beijing’s attempts to significantly step up Taiwanese firms’ China investments have dwindled to less than 1 percent of their total foreign investments, putting China-based investments on track for a record low this year, Ministry of Economic Affairs data showed.
Taiwan’s investments abroad in the first five months of this year reached US$35.92 billion, Department of Investment Review data showed. Investments outside China totaled US$35.61 billion, up 133.94 percent year-on-year, while investments in China totaled US$310.
3 million, down 32.3 percent and about 0.86 percent of the total, data showed. Major overseas projects included Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) US$30 billion capital injection into an overseas subsidiary, VARYING OPINIONS: People with different political affiliations have different views on how bilateral ties with the US, Japan and China would affect Taiwan’s security Two-thirds of Taiwanese view closer US and Japan ties as beneficial to security, a survey by Taiwan’s top military think tank showed.
To gauge the Taiwanese public’s perceptions of how different external relationships affect security, the Institute for National Defense and Security Research commissioned a survey by National Chengchi University’s Election Study Center asking respondents whether closer relations with the US, Japan and China would strengthen or weaken Taiwan’s national security.