Blockade succeeds where sanctions failed as Iran oil exports stall

Iran has reportedly gone ~7 weeks without shipping meaningful crude exports via the Strait of Hormuz, marking a historic lapse likely driven by a U.S. naval blockade. The disruption cuts off one of Tehran’s key foreign-currency earnings sources and suggests sanctions effectiveness is now being bypassed by direct interdiction. The headline increases geopolitical and oil-supply risk through a major energy chokepoint, which is likely to pressure crude-linked markets.