The United States and Israel are considering implementing a land blockade against Iran to further Tehran’s economic isolation, The Telegraph reported on Friday, with US President Donald Trump believing that the naval blockade in the Strait of Hormuz has reached its limit.
According to the report, Trump discussed the plan with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, along with several other “kinetic and non-kinetic” options, during their meeting in Washington on Tuesday.
“What if you just blocked the land? Suppose Iran can’t bring anything in and cannot take anything out,” a senior Israeli official told the Telegraph. “Anything will happen.”
“We are protecting not only our lives but yours as well, and we’re fighting the battle of civilization against barbarism,” the Israeli official said of the Trump-Netanyahu meeting, referring to previous US and Israeli strikes on Iran.
“We took out that lump of cancer because if we hadn’t, we’d be dead, and we didn’t have a choice,” the official continued. “But it doesn’t mean that we don’t have to keep on taking out the attempts to do this thing to you know to come back. We’re doing that, and we’re able to do that. But it’s still a challenge.”
A land blockade would likely involve cooperation with Iran’s neighboring states, which include Iraq, Turkey, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, the report noted, all of whom would face retaliation from Iran if they chose to participate in the blockade.
Therefore, the plan would require the US and Israel to persuade these states to enact restrictions on the flow of goods bound for or coming from Tehran, according to the Telegraph.
The report comes as Iran attempts to rearm itself following the US and Israeli Operations Epic Fury and Roaring Lion against them earlier this year, including a recent order for Chinese shoulder-launched missile systems.
The report cited retired US three-star general Sean MacFarland, who noted the significance of a land blockade against Iran, despite describing the endeavor as “almost impossible.”
“If you take away Iran’s ability to trade… then you are isolating them economically,” said MacFarland. “That’s the way to bring them to their knees.”
“The economic approach is the concise one, but it must have kinetic elements,” he added. “Iran borders a whole bunch of countries over land, and Iraq is very aligned with Iran. That would make it very difficult to stop any support from getting in.”
The Telegraph noted that the reported plan may in fact be a ruse to draw attention from their “real” military plans, which would come at a time of Iranian supply shortages.