Iran Faces Potential Land Blockade as US and Israel Weigh New Pressure Plan

The United States and Israel are examining a proposal to impose a land blockade on Iran, aiming to cut off the country's imports and exports and intensify economic pressure on the Islamic Republic. The plan would involve persuading Iran’s neighboring states—including Turkey, Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and Armenia—to restrict border crossings, and could be combined with kinetic (military) and non‑kinetic (economic, cyber, informational) tools. The proposal was discussed in a meeting between former President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to a report citing senior Israeli officials.

Separately, analysts argue that Iran should not be compared to Iraq or Afghanistan when assessing the ongoing conflict involving Israel and the United States. They note that Iran’s political institutions, social fabric, and historical trajectory differ markedly from those of Iraq and Afghanistan, and warn that simplistic analogies may mislead policy decisions about the war and its potential outcomes.