Can US blockade Iran-linked ships anywhere in the world?

THE US military on Thursday (Apr 16) extended its blockade on vessels coming in and out of Iranian ports to the waters of the wider world, declaring that it would pursue any ship aiding Iran, regardless of location on the high seas or flag.

The US “will actively pursue any Iranian-flagged vessel or any vessel attempting to provide material support to Iran,” said General Dan Caine, chair of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, noting that US troops beyond the Middle East will engage in operations to thwart Iranian shipping.

The extension of the blockade comes as the economically vital Strait of Hormuz remains all but closed to commercial traffic and the two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran nears an end.

The move aligns long-standing US economic policies targeting Iran with the current military campaign against it, maritime and military law experts say.

But it raises a host of legal and practical questions.

“War is a messy thing not just on the combat side but under national and international law,” said James Holmes, chair of maritime strategy at the US Naval War College.

“From a legal standpoint, a blockade is an act of war, so the blockade probably is legal to the extent Operation Epic Fury is,” he said using the name of the US military campaign against Iran.

Undeclared wars

Since Congress has not declared war against Iran, no formal state of war exists between the US and the Islamic Republic. But Holmes noted that “undeclared wars are more the rule than the exception in US history,” with joint resolutions of Congress, United Nations Security Council resolutions and Nato decisions invoked to justify fighting.

“This campaign may be more unilateral than most, but it is not without precedent,” he said.

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Under international law, the legality of the blockade is “more ambiguous,” said Jennifer Kavanagh, a senior fellow and director of military analysis at Defense Priorities, a foreign policy think tank in Washington.

For a blockade to be legal, Kavanagh said, it must be “effective,” meaning that it is both enforceable and enforced. Some would argue that a “‘global blockade’ is not permissible in conception” because it is overly broad, she said.

Still, expansive blockades have taken place throughout history, including during World War II, when states enforced naval blockades worldwide other than in neutral territorial seas.

Over the centuries before that, the British blockaded France throughout the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars, and during the War of American Independence, the colonies and their allies raided British shipping as far away as the Indian Ocean.

Enforcing expansive blockades is difficult, however.

“The Seven Seas are a big place, and the largest navy or coast guard is tiny by comparison,” Holmes said. Whether the US blockade ultimately is deemed “effective,” legally speaking, will depend on whether the US has enough assets like ships, aircraft, boarding crews and intelligence gathering to enforce it.

The blockade does not have to be “airtight” to meet the legal test, Holmes said, and assessing its effectiveness will be tough for outside observers in any case.

Keeping pressure on Iran

Enforcement may also have to be somewhat selective, he suggested.

“Now, it is possible our leadership might quietly let a ship proceed when it suits the national interest,” Holmes said. “For instance, with a summit coming up between President Trump and General Secretary Xi” – President Donald Trump is to meet with China’s leader, Xi Jinping, in May – “Washington might not want to ruffle feathers by obstructing China’s oil imports.”

The expanded blockade is part of a long-standing economic campaign against Iran, but it represents something of a tactical change for the Trump administration.

Earlier in the war, the US temporarily lifted sanctions on Iranian oil at sea to ease the pressure on global energy prices. And before imposing a blockade on Iranian ports last week, the US allowed Iranian tankers to transit the Strait of Hormuz for the same reason.

Now Washington seems to be returning its focus to keeping pressure on Iran.

“The blockade is a wartime extension of existing US economic sanctions against the Iranian regime,” said James Kraska, professor of international maritime law and a visiting professor at Harvard Law School. In peacetime, he said, the sanctions were a “powerful tool to weaken the Iranian economy.” Now, he said, the blockade serves as a “kinetic expansion.”

Caine’s announcement about the expanded naval blockade came one day after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced “Operation Economic Fury,” an effort he called the “financial equivalent” of a bombing campaign. It includes secondary sanctions on institutions internationally, like banks, that have dealings with Iran.

The expanded blockade “marks a notable escalation by the United States,” Kavanagh said.

Still, she said, it is unlikely to significantly change Iranian calculations.

“For Iran, this war is existential and it is not going to cave easily or quickly,” she said. “Economic pressure may work over the very long term, but Trump seems too impatient for a deal to wait it out.” NYTIMES