Iran would view any US move to block shipping to and from its ports as both risky and extremely difficult to execute, according to Mohammad Eslami, a research fellow at Tehran University.
“It is a matter of question whether the US army can stop the tankers and supertankers in this vast waterway,” Eslami said, arguing such an operation would be “a hard operation for the US army”.
He stressed that Iran is under heavy military and economic pressure and does not want its access to “food and other things that it needs” cut off, while facing attacks from the US and Israel.
Eslami said Tehran wants to send “a very strong message to the Americans” even as “most parties are thinking about diplomatic settlements for the crisis,” warning that closing the Strait would be “a very, very big step by both sides”.