President Donald Trump’s predicated his surprise two-week ceasefire, announced April 7, 2026, on Iran’s opening the Strait of Hormuz to shipping transit. While it is unclear whether Tehran is obliging, Trump should remember that not only Iran can block the Strait of Hormuz. Iran must export its oil through the Strait of Hormuz and import refined gasoline through the narrow channel.
Pressure on the Strait of Hormuz can work both ways as I told @JesseBWatters.
— Jim Hanson (@JimHansonDC) April 9, 2026
"President Trump should just say we're going to close the Strait...any Iranian oil comes out the other side and we seize it"
Legal and huge leverage. pic.twitter.com/GlgrRomEVI
“If it were up to me, I’d take the oil, I’d keep the oil; it would bring plenty of money. I’d also take care of the people of Iran much better than they’ve been taken care of,” Trump said on April 6. Iranian officials should not treat Trump’s threat as idle, especially because a U.S. refinery is processing Venezuelan crude after a commando raid captured President Nicolás Maduro.
But how would that work with Iran? There is no single leader to capture, since Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and 40 other leaders died on day one of Operation Epic Fury, and Khamenei’s successor, his son Mojtaba, is said to be severely injured from the strike that killed his father and other family members.
The oil fields are spread out, but there are two main pressure points. The first is Kharg Island, which pumps more than 95 percent of Iran’s oil into tankers to send on to customers. While it would not be difficult to seize, it would be more difficult to protect American forces from Iranian drones launched from the mainland, just ten miles away.
But there is another way. Why let Iran be the only country that can close the Strait of Hormuz? The United States has the capability to control who enters and exits. It would be a simple decision for Trump to say no cargo can leave the Strait without U.S. approval.
Trump also could declare an emergency under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which gives authority to seize assets of hostile actors.
He could go further and announce that the U.S. will seize any oil loaded at Kharg. There are a number of rationales for this, including sanctions against Iran’s oil and the “maximum pressure campaign” outlined in National Security Presidential Memorandum/NSPM-2, which instructs the Secretary of State to “implement a robust and continual campaign, in coordination with the Secretary of the Treasury and other relevant executive departments or agencies (agencies), to drive Iran’s export of oil to zero, including exports of Iranian crude to the People’s Republic of China.”
Trump also could declare an emergency under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which gives authority to seize assets of hostile actors “when the United States is engaged in armed hostilities or has been attacked by a foreign country or foreign nationals, confiscate any property, subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, of any foreign person, foreign organization, or foreign country that he determines has planned, authorized, aided, or engaged in such hostilities or attacks against the United States.”
The right of countries engaged in armed hostilities to capture enemy ships and seize the cargo is still accepted maritime law. Belligerents may even visit and search ships of neutral countries for contraband. In this case, if that contraband were Iranian oil, the United States might seize it.
The legal basis and capability are established. This gives the president a way to cripple the Islamic Republic’s ability to conduct operations against the United States and other countries in the region.
The United States could name a line of demarcation and seize any Iranian oil that crosses it in the Persian Gulf. The tankers could redirect to any port and sell the oil to any customer desired. Trump could take a percentage to defray the costs of Operation Epic Fury and then put the rest in trust for the people of Iran once the Islamic Republic ends.
Of course, this would send the oil markets into a spin—but the alternative is allowing Iran control of the oil and natural gas that transits the Strait. The economic damage would devastate the regime. There would be a humanitarian cost, but less so than that from bombing infrastructure. The seizures can stop without having inflicted lasting damage when they achieve their goal. And once the regime loses the ability to pay its personnel, it will be ripe for the people to push it aside.
This is a perfect opportunity to flip Iran’s most powerful asymmetric weapon on the regime and grind its war machine to a halt. Close the Strait, Mr. President.
