Karim Sadjadpour on the Extended Cease-Fire and Ongoing Blockade of the Strait of Hormuz
- On Tuesday, hours before the cease-fire between the United States and Iran was due to expire, U.S.
- Sadjadpour noted that Iran had telegraphed from the beginning that it planned to regionalize the conflict.
- The Iranian government has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway through which approximately 20% of the world’s crude oil and natural gas typically passes.
On Tuesday, hours before the cease-fire between the United States and Iran was due to expire, U.S. President Donald Trump unilaterally extended the pact. But Tehran was quick to call an extended American blockade of Iranian ports “an act of war.” Regardless of what each side calls the status quo, it is a punishing economic reality for billions of people, especially in regions like Asia, which receive most of their oil from the Persian Gulf. To understand where things stand and where they might be headed, I spoke with Iran expert Karim Sadjadpour on the latest episode of FP Live. Sadjadpour is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Subscribers can watch the full discussion on the video box atop this page or download the FP Live podcast. What follows here is a lightly edited and condensed transcript.
Sadjadpour noted that Iran had telegraphed from the beginning that it planned to regionalize the conflict. However, President Trump said that this took him by surprise when Iran started to attack Persian Gulf countries or close down the Strait of Hormuz. “I don’t think President Trump, in his own words frankly, understood what he was getting into,” Sadjadpour added.
The Iranian government has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway through which approximately 20% of the world’s crude oil and natural gas typically passes. This has turned what began as a “war of choice” — meaning there was no imminent threat that Iran was about to acquire nuclear weapons or launch missile strikes on the U.S. Or its partners — into a “war of necessity.”
Sadjadpour emphasized that the conflict remains unresolved and increasingly complicated. With the Strait of Hormuz blocked, policy experts warn that the economic fallout continues to ripple across global markets, particularly affecting energy-dependent regions in Asia.
The extended cease-fire and ongoing blockade underscore the fragile state of U.S.-Iran relations, as both nations navigate a situation neither anticipated at the outset of hostilities. As of April 22, 2026, no formal resolution has been reached, and the status quo persists under mutual accusations and economic strain.