Hormuz Standoff Leaves Both Sides With Economic Pain

Vessels in the Strait of Hormuz are visible near the beach of Bandar Abbas, Iran, August 28, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS

(Bloomberg) — As US President Donald Trump threatens renewed attacks against Iran, Tehran’s intermittent strikes on commercial vessels have left the two sides locked in a painful economic standoff.

For Iran, the US blockade of its oil exports has snuffed out a key part of its military funding and severely hobbled the $300 billion economy, with only a tiny fraction of the prewar 2 million barrels per day are leaving the country via land routes.

And for the US, the rising cost of shipping oil through the Strait of Hormuz — even though US Central Command says almost all Iranian attacks there fail or are intercepted — has kept fuel prices high, stirring a political backlash at home with the midterm elections fast approaching.

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