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Source: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/08/25/trump-finally-upper-hand-iran/
Trump Finally Has the Upper Hand in Iran
(Telegraph-UK) David Blair - President Donald Trump is now trying to break Iran's regime with the "single greatest financial offensive ever marshalled against an adversary," in the words of U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. The U.S. navy is currently mounting a total blockade of Iran's ports, designed to sever the regime's financial lifeline. At the same time, American warships are guiding tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, hugging the coast of Oman. Although they were still running the gauntlet of regular Iranian drone attacks, ships carrying about five million barrels of oil transited the strait every day in July, according to Windward, a maritime intelligence company. Since then, the number making it through seems to have risen. The crucial point is that America has, for the moment, succeeded in wrecking a highly successful Iranian strategy, whereby the Islamic Republic would export its own oil safely while closing the strait to everyone else. Having exhausted every alternative, Trump has at last embarked on a ruthlessly effective strategy with a chance of delivering.