Faced with a choice between a high-risk military option and an economic strategy with a lower human cost, the administration of US President Donald Trump found itself at a decisive crossroads in its approach to Iran at the beginning of last spring.
The path it ultimately chose, a suffocating naval blockade rather than a ground military adventure, was not a decision that suddenly emerged inside White House policy rooms. It took shape over weeks of public debate led by one retired general before Trump personally embraced the proposal and turned it into an executive order within days.
On 9 April 2026, retired General Jack Keane, former Vice Chief of Staff of the US Army and a prominent military analyst, published an opinion piece in the New York Post warning that Iran would seek to “drag out the negotiations” and proposing an alternative to renewed intensive bombardment.
Keane outlined three options: seize Iran’s key Kharg Island oil terminal, through which around 90 per cent of Iranian oil exports pass; destroy it; or impose a naval blockade that would completely shut down Iran’s oil export lifeline.
Keane wrote: “Alternatively, the US Navy could establish a blockade that shuts down Tehran’s oil export route… This is the ultimate leverage we need to seize the ‘nuclear dust’ and destroy the enrichment facilities.”
The website Just the News subsequently published an article titled “The Trump Card the President Holds if Iran Won’t Bend: A Naval Blockade”, drawing on Keane’s proposals and pointing to what it described as the success of the previous US blockade of Venezuela.
Trump himself soon took notice.
On 12 April 2026, just three days after Keane’s article was published, Trump reposted it on his Truth Social account, a move that gave the proposal clear official momentum.
Trump then announced through the platform the immediate start of a naval blockade against any vessels attempting to enter or leave the Strait of Hormuz, including the interception of ships that had paid fees to Iran and the destruction of naval mines.
“This is global extortion… and Iran will not be allowed to profit from this illegal act,” Trump wrote.
US Central Command, CENTCOM, announced that it intended to impose a naval blockade on Iran beginning at 10:00 am Eastern Time on 13 April. It said the measure would specifically target maritime traffic travelling to and from Iranian ports, without obstructing neutral vessels transiting the strait towards ports elsewhere.
The Idea Was Already Being Tested Behind Closed Doors
Keane’s proposal was not an isolated voice in the media.
Axios reported on 20 March that the option of seizing Kharg Island, either through a ground occupation or by imposing a naval blockade that would prevent tankers from reaching it, was already under serious discussion inside the White House and Pentagon, citing three informed sources.
According to the report, Pentagon legal advisers had been consulted to provide opinions on the legality of such steps.
A force of 2,500 US Marines was also reportedly heading to the region, alongside two additional units of similar size, while the White House and Pentagon discussed further reinforcements without reaching a final decision at the time.
The option of physically seizing the island or completely destroying its infrastructure did not disappear from consideration. Instead, it remained in the background as a parallel threat.
Trump continued to warn publicly that if an agreement was not reached “soon” and the strait was not reopened immediately, the United States would “destroy the power stations, oil wells and Kharg Island, and perhaps even the desalination plants”.
The “Wall of Steel”: From Emergency Measure to Long-Term Strategy
With this shift, Washington moved away from relying primarily on aerial firepower towards a longer-term instrument of economic pressure aimed at choking off Iranian oil exports and forcing Tehran to make nuclear concessions, while simultaneously preserving a fragile ceasefire between the two sides.
By mid-August 2026, Trump was describing the blockade in his public remarks as a “wall of steel”.
He claimed that Iran “has no navy and no air force, its remaining soldiers are unpaid, and the Revolutionary Guard is shattered and fleeing”.
