Washington Shifts From Strikes to Sanctions and Blockade in Its Campaign Against Iran

President Donald Trump has signalled that the United States will rely on sanctions and a naval blockade rather than new military strikes against Iran, Al Jazeera reported, noting that the shift follows a stabilisation in oil prices that has eased the cost pressure on American consumers. Economic pressure is cheaper for Washington when crude is not rising.

Inside Iran, the effect is already measurable in household finances. Deutsche Welle reported that the war has deepened the country's economic crisis, compressing household budgets, damaging businesses and raising concern that millions of middle-income families are moving closer to poverty.

State media point in the same direction from the supply side. The manager for gas distribution coordination at the National Iranian Gas Company told the state news agency IRNA that maintaining household gas supply is the company's red line, and asked consumers to use gas efficiently so that industry can keep operating. A state producer publicly rationing between homes and factories is describing a shortage without using the word.

Iran's own list of conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz includes lifting the blockade of its ports and releasing frozen assets, which places the two sides in a direct exchange: Tehran controls a shipping lane, Washington controls access to payment and export channels. Neither instrument is being surrendered without payment.