This development comes after Trump indicated that the US naval blockade against Iran could continue for months. The blockade, implemented since mid-April, targets ships entering or leaving Iranian ports and has contributed to a rise in global oil prices, which recently reached their highest level in four years.Earlier, a report by the Institute for the Study of War suggests that Iran is unlikely to back down. The analysis indicates that the fundamentalist approach led by Ahmed Vahidi has become dominant in Tehran.According to the report, Iran is not ready to negotiate on its nuclear program until the US lifts the blockade and is looking for alternative strategies to maintain its edge.These include a possible plan with Oman to impose tolls on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, allowing Tehran to present a “new proposal” without compromising its core demands. The report also said Iran may be trying to indirectly pressure the US by encouraging Houthi groups in Yemen to target ships in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait.Earlier, US Treasury Secretary Scott Besant had said that the combined effect of sanctions and the naval blockade would cause long-term damage to Iran’s economy.“Through Economic Fury, the Treasury Department has targeted Iran’s international shadow banking infrastructure, access to crypto, shadow fleets, weapons procurement networks, funding for terrorist proxies in the region, and independent Chinese ‘teapot’ refineries that support Iran’s oil trade. “These actions have disrupted millions of dollars of revenue that would otherwise be used to finance terrorism,” Scott said.“Kharg Island, Iran’s primary oil export terminal, is soon nearing storage capacity, which would force the regime to reduce oil production, resulting in an additional loss of approximately $170 million per day in revenue, and permanent damage to Iran’s oil infrastructure. The Treasury will continue maximum pressure and risk U.S. sanctions against any individual, vessel, or entity facilitating illicit flows into Tehran. Restrictions,” he said.

However, Iran rejected the US claims and criticized the strategy. Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf rejected Besant’s comments, calling her advice “garbage”.“It’s been 3 days, no wells have erupted. We can expand to 30 and livestream the wells here. This is the kind of useless advice the US administration gets from people like Besant, who promote the blockade theory and crank oil to $120+. Next stop: 140. The issue is not theory, it’s mentality,” Ghalibaf said in a post on X.