Hormuz blockade is 'worse than war’: Iranian official says US blockade would cost Iran $18 billion

The head of the Iran-China Joint Chamber of Commerce, Majidreza Hariri, warned that an American blockade of the Strait of Hormuz would cost Iran's economy about $18 billion a year. He called for ending the blockade by any means, including war, and argued that relying on land trade would limit capacity to only 20%. His remarks came after reports that President Pezeshkian began promoting a strategy to bypass the blockade.

Majidreza Hariri, head of the Iran-China Joint Chamber of Commerce, warned that the ongoing American blockade of the Strait of Hormuz would cost the Iranian economy around $18 billion annually. In an interview with the Iranian site Khabar Online, he said Iran must not get used to the blockade as it did with sanctions, and should impose the cost of lifting it on the US, even through war. Hariri advised ending the blockade by any means necessary, including negotiations, threats, or renewing the war. His comments came after President Masoud Pezeshkian reportedly began advocating a strategy to circumvent the blockade. Iran has invested in infrastructure to increase truck-based trade, raising bilateral trade from $3 billion to at least $10 billion, according to Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni. However, Hariri said relying solely on land trade would restrict import and export capacity to only 20%, and Iran lacks appropriate relations with many neighbors. He calculated that a container shipped from China to Iran would cost four times as much by land as by sea, around $12,000, and with two million containers annually and an additional $9,000 each, this would translate to $18 billion in extra costs. He warned that non-oil exports, valued at $50 billion annually, would no longer be economically viable, and that total foreign trade of $100 billion could grind to a halt with $20 billion in added costs. He criticized past sanction circumvention for leading to a weakened economy and corruption, and said the blockade must end even if it means pleading or war.