A navy vessel is seen sailing in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway through which much of the world’s oil and gas passes on March 1, 2026. Sahar Al Attar | Afp | Getty Images President Donald Trump on Monday rolled out a “blockade” of access to Iranian ports in the Persian Gulf to great fanfare, announcing his intentions on social media and then proclaiming it in motion at his appointed deadline. But what exactly does choking access to the region’s oil exports via the Strait of Hormuz mean and what does Trump want to accomplish? A former Biden-era Pentagon official said the U.S. is trying to turn the tables on Iran, which has blockaded the strait for weeks during the U.S.-Israeli war with the country, creating a bottleneck that roiled global markets and strained the economy. Experts say the goal of the blockade is to convince Iran’s leaders to back down and acquiesce to U.S. demands to end the war and restore freedom of navigation to the strait. “The administration seems to be …