From the FB page of:
THE IRANIANS are adding another sea blockade—making it the third in the area, the country announced yesterday.
But this is a big one.
The new blockade will halt sea traffic through the Red Sea, along with the Gulf and Sea of Oman, the government said in a statement on Iranian state television yesterday (Wednesday, 15 April 2026).
Such a blockade would halt all traffic to and from the Suez Canal, the only passage between the Mediterranean and Asia.
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IRANIANS UP THE ANTE
This is a clever move which will raise the already high stakes much higher still.
It will horrify the Saudi Arabians, in particular. Frustrated by the lack of access through the Strait of Hormuz, they have been pouring their oil into a pipeline that has taken it to the shores of the Red Sea, from which four to five million barrels a day can be exported.
But if Iran closes the Red Sea outlet, this will be a huge blow to the Saudis, and to their customers, such as South Korea, Japan and Taiwan. The threat of a global recession will grow dramatically.
The Iranians have turned the US-Israel attack into a game of chess—one in which they have prevented the US making a quick win, humiliating it for seven weeks and counting.
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CAN IT BE DONE?
But can Iran close the Red Sea?
The simple answer is Yes. The world now knows that closing sea routes is easier than it may have seemed. You don’t actually need any kind of ocean barrier, or even floating mines.
All you do is making enough threats to attack ships with drones or missiles to send the insurance companies into a panic—and then they back off and the whole system seizes up.
Furthermore, the Iranians’ great friends, the Ansarallah people in Yemen (known in the west as the Houthis), have shown great skill in closing the Red Sea route in the past, which they did as a protest against Israel’s treatment of the people of Gaza.
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CHINA PLAYS CAREFUL ROLE
So how will this latest move play out? It’s hard to say.
With the Iranians successfully turning the US attack into a stalemate, a new element will be needed to break the deadlock—and China is the likely candidate to make that move.
The Chinese have a good relationship with Iran, and are surely enjoying seeing the failure of what the United States believed would be a quick operation to murder Iran's leaders and destroy its military.
But at the same time, China is always focused on trade, so would certainly prefer a peaceful world where all sea passages are open.
Yet Beijing will not want to solve Washington’s self-made problem too quickly. It will surely remain focused on the fact that ultimate aim of all US overseas foreign policy actions is to harm China itself.
I sagest Nuri Kentut Loud Loud and Declare IRGC will Blockade Southern Seas, since it handles more volume than Hormuz or Red Sea.
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