A man in a grocery store in Tehran, April 28, 2026. (Credit: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Reuters)
Since the beginning of the war, the Islamic Republic has been playing for time. Fully aware that a military victory was impossible, Tehran’s strategy has instead focused on increasing the cost of war for the United States, regardless of the toll on Iran itself. And while the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz suggested that Iran could hold out in the long run, the blockade imposed by Washington on April 13 on all entry to and exit from Iranian ports now appears to call that endurance into question.“The enemy has entered a new phase and now aims to ramp up economic pressure and fuel internal divisions through a maritime blockade and a media campaign designed to weaken us or even cause collapse from within,” warned the influential Iranian parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, on Wednesday, April 29, calling to “maintain...
Since the beginning of the war, the Islamic Republic has been playing for time. Fully aware that a military victory was impossible, Tehran’s strategy has instead focused on increasing the cost of war for the United States, regardless of the toll on Iran itself. And while the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz suggested that Iran could hold out in the long run, the blockade imposed by Washington on April 13 on all entry to and exit from Iranian ports now appears to call that endurance into question.“The enemy has entered a new phase and now aims to ramp up economic pressure and fuel internal divisions through a maritime blockade and a media campaign designed to weaken us or even cause collapse from within,” warned the influential Iranian parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, on Wednesday, April 29, calling to...
