Blockades Are Legitimate Tools of War
Naval blockades are a classic and indispensable strategy of naval warfare. The United States Navy has repeatedly implemented blockades to defeat its enemies. The current blockade of the Strait of Hormuz is part of a long line of this often-used military tactic, which the armed forces of the United States are very familiar with.
During the American Civil War, the largely agrarian Southern economy, driven byslave labor, relied on exports to sustain itself. The Union Navy blockaded the South’s ports and even provided opportunities for slaves to escape via docked ships.
In World Wars I and II, naval blockades weakened the German military, slowed its production of war materials, and led to Germany’s surrender. Prior to its downfall, Imperial Japan waged a violent campaign across East Asia to control the world’s rubber supply. U.S. innovation and a naval blockade in the Pacific ultimately crippled the Japanese war economy and military capability.
The United States’ blockade of Iran is allowing essential goods, such as food and medical supplies, to enter the country. International law requires that a blockade must not be intended to starve civilians or prevent the delivery of life-saving supplies; it treats them, in principle, as regulated, not unlawful. America’s blockade is aimed not at the necessities of the Iranian people, but at the war-fighting capacity of the Islamist Iranian state. Specifically, the U.S. Navy is targeting merchant vessels and oil tankers chartered to fund Iran’s warfighting capabilities.
The Strait of Hormuz has been abused by the Islamic Republic for decades to fuel its terror regime. For the Ayatollahs and their war criminal Revolutionary Guards, revenue from oil exports accounts for 85% of all government receipts, which never benefit the suffering civilian population. Around 90% of all Iranian oil exports pass through Hormuz. Somewhere between 80 and 90% of that oil is purchased by China, America’s principal global rival.
Because of the Iranian government’s strong dependence on foreign trade for survival, the blockade is very likely to work by applying pressure where it matters. Ironically, Iran is actually an importer of gasoline since it lacks the industrial capacity to refine the crude oil it produces. Despite failed attempts at diversification and a shift towards self-sufficiency, the Iranian economy remains in shambles, which some authorities suggest makes regime change inevitable. Experts suggest that Iran’s economy could collapse within three months under a naval blockade.
Iran has long embraced a pariah status by sponsoring international terrorism publicly and developing weapons of mass destruction. The Iranian regime has a history of violating the law to fund its terror operations. Iran has previously circumvented sanctions by contracting an ambiguously-owned fleet of Chinese “ghost tankers”. Both violate international law and provide the Ayatollahs with billions of dollars to fund their terror network. With a blockade in place, smuggling is no longer possible.
In the end, there is only one way to guarantee free passage through the Straits of Hormuz: bring down the Ayatollahs’ regime and end the threat to the region and the world. Iran continues to butcher its own people and rain down missiles across the region. The Ayatollahs have demonstrated that they will never be a partner for peace. America’s goal must be to use its command of the seas to compel the end of Iran’s regime and a dramatic change to the country’s future behavior.
