Defense

Pentagon says US naval blockade has cost Iran $4.8 billion

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by Filip Timotija - 05/01/26 10:09 PM ET

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by Filip Timotija - 05/01/26 10:09 PM ET

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The Defense Department has estimated that the U.S. naval blockade has cost Iran about $4.8 billion in oil revenue, a Pentagon official familiar with the assessment told The Hill late Friday.

The blockade, which was instituted more than two weeks ago, is one of the actions President Trump has used to inflict pressure on Iran as negotiations with Tehran appear to be at a stalemate.

“The United States’ blockade in the Strait of Hormuz is operating with full force and delivering the decisive impact we intended. We are inflicting a devastating blow to the Iranian regime’s ability to fund terrorism and regional destabilization. Our Armed Forces in the region will continue to maintain this unrelenting pressure,” acting Pentagon press secretary Joel Valdez said in a statement on Friday.

Since the blockade went into effect on April 13, the U.S. forces in the Middle East have forced 45 commercial vessels to turn around or return to port, U.S. Central Command (Centcom), which oversees U.S. forces in the region, said on Friday.

While diplomatic talks have not yielded progress, both countries have enforced their respective blockades, with Iran choking off the Strait of Hormuz and U.S. forces blockading ships in the Gulf of Oman.

The estimate was first reported by Axios.

Trump informed Congress on Friday that the ongoing ceasefire with Iran extends the timeline between the start of the conflict on Feb. 28 and the 60-day deadline invoked by the War Powers Act.

The president was briefed by the Centcom commander, Adm. Brad Cooper, and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dan Caine, on Thursday about new potential military options versus Iran.

“There are options. Do we want to go and just blast the hell out of them and finish them forever or do we want to try and make a deal?” Trump told reporters on Friday, adding that he preferred to strike a deal with Iran.

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