["Just the News" should be called 'Just Propaganda' if this kind of article is typical for that site. Almost every assertion in this article about US naval capabilities near Iran are complete bullshit and/or fantasy . . . SC]

The Trump Card The President Holds If Iran Won’t Bend: A Naval Blockade

By John Solomon - April 11, 2026

Before he launched a daring military capture of the dictator Nicholas Maduro, President Donald Trump brought the Venezuelan economy to its knees with a naval blockade that strangled the nation’s oil revenues.

If Iran refuses to accept the final deal the United States offered Saturday, Trump could bomb Tehran back to the “Stone Ages” as he vowed. Or he might just reprise his successful blockade strategy to choke an already teetering Iranian economy and ratchet up diplomatic pressure on China and India by cutting them off one of their key sources of oil.

Ironically, the massive USS Gerald Ford carrier that led the Venezuelan blockade is now in the Persian Gulf after a brief hiatus for repairs and crew rest after a deadly fire. And now it joins the USS Abraham Lincoln and other major naval assets.

In short, Trump simply could out-blockade Iran’s hold over the Strait of Hormuz, experts said.

“It would be very easy for the US Navy to exert complete control over what does and does not go up and down the Strait now,” the Lexington Institute’s national security expert Rebecca Grant told Just the News. “I've heard about 10 ships have moved in the last 24 hours. One of them was a reflagged Russian tanker, and we know that cargos have gone out to China, to India, and we've seen some inbound traffic.

“If Iran gets intransigent, then absolutely, the US Navy can set up with great overwater surveillance … and watch everything that goes in and out of that Strait and you'll have to ask the US Navy if you want to move past Kharg Island or past that narrow part by Oman,” she added.

After a marathon peace negotiation, Vice President JD Vance left Pakistan late Saturday without a deal with Iran and declared that the United States had offered its “final and best offer” to Tehran.

Vance told a press conference that American officials negotiated in good faith for 21 hours, and now it is up to Iran to decide whether to accept the final terms approved by President Donald Trump.

“We leave here with a very simple proposal, a method of understanding that is our final and best offer,” Vance said. “We will see if the Iranians accept it.”

The specifics of what the United States offered were not immediately released.

But Vance made clear Iran had not yet agreed to Trump's "central goal": abandoning their development of nuclear weapons.

"We haven’t seen that yet,” Vance said.

With a sand clock waning on the temporary cease-fire, the Trump administration already prepared multiple options if Iran refuses Trump's final offer.

The idea of a naval blockade was first suggested last week by retired Gen. Jack Keane, one of the nation’s top military strategists.

“If the war resumes and after we degrade Iran’s remaining military assets sufficiently, the US military could . . .

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