Washington (United States) (AFP) - The US military announced that it will create a task force to block land routes to Iran that it says are used for shipments of weapons and illicit goods.

First modification: 11/09/2026 - 15:25

The restrictions would expand the US naval blockade of Iranian ports imposed as part of the war.

This initiative "will further restrict Iran's ability to finance terrorism, rebuild weapons factories and replenish its military forces," said the head of the US Central Command (Centcom), Brad Cooper, in a statement published on Saturday in X.

The team will be made up of 20 civilian and military members based in Florida.

The Revolutionary Guards, Iran's elite army, assured that such a project "will fail" and will not cause the "collapse" of the Islamic republic's economy.

His spokesman, Hossein Mohebi, said the United States would be "incapable of blocking" communication channels between Iran and neighboring countries.

According to Centcom, Washington's blockade of Iranian ports has "prevented Iran from exporting more than $25 billion in crude oil."

In August, the United States announced a campaign of "economic asphyxiation" against Iran aimed at strangling its already battered economy.

These measures responded to Tehran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, where Iranian forces regularly attack ships attempting to cross it without authorization. A fifth of the world's hydrocarbons passed through there before the conflict.

© 2026 AFP

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