Washington (United States) (AFP) - The US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced that it will form a “task force” aimed at obstructing Iran’s access to weapons systems and illicit materials through land trade routes and the Caspian Sea, in a move that the Revolutionary Guard promises to thwart.
Published on: 08/11/2026 - 12:07
The American measure aims to expand the scope of trade restrictions that the United States applies to Iran. For months, Washington has been imposing a naval blockade on the Islamic Republic, and has placed this within the framework of a response to Iran’s obstruction of maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, which Tehran has been doing since February 2026 following the outbreak of the US-Israeli war against it.
Central Command announced in a statement on Saturday that its commander, Brad Cooper, had issued directives “to form a task force to support the US government’s efforts aimed at preventing Iran from using land routes to transport advanced weapons and other materials.”
The statement added, “Admiral Brad Cooper directed the formation of Task Force Iron Gate, a task force that includes approximately 20 civilian and military personnel,” to work “in coordination with other US government agencies to prevent the transfer of advanced weapons, dual-use technologies, sanctioned materials, and illicit revenue flows across Iran’s land borders and the Caspian Sea.”
The statement quoted Cooper as saying that the establishment of the force “reinforces the success of our strict blockade imposed on Iran at sea,” and will contribute to “further restricting Iran’s ability to finance terrorism, rebuild weapons factories, and renew its military arsenal.”
The task force will be based in Florida.
Commenting on the announcement, the Iranian Fars Agency quoted Revolutionary Guard spokesman Hussein Mohebi as saying, “The United States will never be able to impose the economic blockade that it seeks and proposes under different names and through various plans.”
He added, "The Americans will not achieve their goal of exerting maximum economic pressure to cause the collapse and disintegration of the Iranian economy," considering that the United States "will be unable to close" the paths of communication between Iran and neighboring countries.
The Caspian Sea is surrounded by Russia, which has close cooperative relations with Iran, in addition to Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan. On the land level, Iran shares long borders with Iraq, Turkey, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Turkmenistan, and Pakistan.
Centcom said that the naval blockade, which began in April, prevented Iran from exporting “crude oil worth more than $25 billion,” stressing the continuation of “strict enforcement operations at sea against all ships entering or leaving Iranian ports.”
The pace of hostilities between Iran and the United States has decreased since a ceasefire agreement in April. But the two sides have exchanged blows intermittently at various stages since then.
As of the summer of 2026, the administration of US President Donald Trump has intensified its economic pressure on Iran, which is already subject to wide-ranging sanctions.
© 2026 AFP
The content you want to browse is no longer in service or is currently unavailable.
