A senior Israeli official described a land blockade as an option on a ‘whiteboard’
The United States and Israel are considering some form of a land blockade to crank up the economic pressure on Iran as the war against the Islamic Republic enters its sixth month, the Washington Free Beacon can report. The land blockade would complement the sea blockade that’s been in effect for some time.
“What if you just block the land? Suppose Iran can’t bring anything in, cannot take anything out,” a senior Israeli official told the Free Beacon—raising one possibility the two countries have been discussing.
The high-level official said such a blockade would be part of an “economic element” that could bring sufficient pressure to bear against Iran, which has so far proved stubbornly resistant to American and Israeli military power.
Iran has long borders with seven different countries—Turkey, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, and Armenia—countries that each have different and complicated relations with the United States and Israel. It’s unclear how such a land blockade could work in practice.
“You need the whiteboard, and you have to go through that … put in all the various options. And usually, if you have enough experience, you can choose correctly between the options,” the official said.
In the days since the United States restarted its campaign against Iran earlier this month, Israel has stayed mostly on the sidelines, declining to reprise its attacks at the start of hostilities in February.
While Iran has attacked multiple Gulf nations, it has refrained since early June from launching strikes against Israel—something the official noted would guarantee the country’s reentry into the war.
“What would cause Israel to join? I’ll tell you one thing that would cause us to join immediately: an attack by Iran. We will respond very, very forcefully and very quickly,” the official said.
The comments come as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wraps up his eighth visit with President Trump since his return to office in 2025.
The pair’s meeting was businesslike and almost totally focused on Iran and Gulf issues—and various options for managing the war in the weeks and months ahead.
“The Commander-in-Chief has all options at his disposal,” a White House official told the Free Beacon.
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