General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsColor me stupid, but what, exactly does blockading the Strait of Hormuz do??
dalton99a
(94,474 posts)leftstreet
(40,978 posts)...to answer your question, I have no idea
Trump's evolution so far
Open the Strait!
Allies, help us open the Strait or else!
We don't need the Strait open!
Open the f'king Strait or I will annihilate your civilization!
We are blocking the Strait!
Igel
(37,559 posts)Two, maybe place pressure on the PRC to maybe less restock Iran as to push Iran to not be quite so supremacist?
Three, makes it harder for those who finesse a "third way" in the conflict to have that third way.
Four, explicitly deny Iran's right to trash the usual freedom of the seas that the US has stood for for many half-century. Iran wants to claim jurisdiction over the adjacent body of water--ignoring the rights of other countries--fine. But keep in mind that it's not hard to close the strait to all comers, including the Shi'ite imperialists in Iran. (Call them what they are.) That rather reduces the ace of trump to something closer to maybe a 7 or 8 of trump.
Which, if any, of these are held in mind by those that issued the threat-by-tweet, dunno.
Metaphorical
(2,645 posts)though this one was one of the first that I asked as well.
Blockading makes absolutely no difference. It highlights Trump's impotence at this, since the Iranians have essentially ALREADY blockaded the Straits in the first place; they control access for ships going into and out of the Persian Gulf, they've mined the straits, and they are shooting missiles at any American military ship that gets too close. What's more - for Iran, this is territorial waters; they are defending themselves. It highlights that America has not only completely failed in its objective to keeping the Persian Gulf open, but it also has put them into a position where ships transiting are under Iranian protection, paying rates that are high but not out of line with insurance.
The only thing that it does (and that not well) is that it is a minor distraction from Melania's Epstein connections and the fact that Orban was run out of town on rails in Hungary today. I also am inclined to suspect that the Navy is going to slow walk (slow ship) their way into position - (damn, looks like engine failure, we'll have to repair it, may be down for weeks). The military brass is NOT happy with either Trump or Hegseth right now.
usonian
(25,705 posts)LudwigPastorius
(14,794 posts)He figures he can make some money while sticking it to our NATO allies because they didn't jump to participate in his clownfuck of a war.
RockRaven
(19,487 posts)Apologies to petulant 4-year olds everywhere for the unkind comparison...
B.See
(8,562 posts)"double dog dare ya" move if ever there was one.
Mysterian
(6,553 posts)That's about it.
rampartd
(4,706 posts)the iranianns are hunting wabbit. if dear leader can change the sign to read "duck season" the iranians must open the straight.?????
KPN
(17,409 posts)understand that Donald J Trump is a petulant little kid, and hes running the country like a petulant little kid, i.e., Open the fuckin strait ... or Ill blockade the strait!
Thats about it as far as what it does from a positive sense from what I can see!
Kid Berwyn
(24,587 posts)The Strait of Hormuz is one of the worlds most critical maritime chokepoints, carrying around a quarter of global seaborne oil trade and significant volumes of liquefied natural gas and fertilizers.
https://unctad.org/publication/strait-hormuz-disruptions-implications-global-trade-and-development
Not the UN:
I bet Iran can hold out longer without toilet paper, fertilizer and cheap gas than the USA.
Ilsa
(64,416 posts)Morning Joe last week. Sort of a, "We're not going to let Iran choose who gets through the strait," philosophy.
applegrove
(132,419 posts)Last edited Sun Apr 12, 2026, 06:23 PM - Edit history (1)
#BlueSkyVets Iran just released footage showing IRGC Navy ordering US destroyers to turn away from Strait of Hormuz and issues âlast warningâ before threatening to open fire.
— Sarge (@oldsarge.bsky.social) 2026-04-12T19:37:15.992Z
This is purely another fine mess Trump has gotten us into!
Heâs a one man wrecking ballâ¦.
#ProudBlue #DemVoice1