NPR’s Michelle Martin talks with retired U.S. Navy Admiral James Foggo, dean of the Maritime Strategy Center, about President Trump’s order to block the Strait of Hormuz.
Michelle Martin, host:
How might a US blockade of Iranian ports actually work? I’m going to ask retired Navy Admiral James Foggo. He led American naval forces to Europe and Africa. He was also a top NATO commander who participated in US and NATO operations in Libya and led naval forces that attacked chemical weapons sites in Syria in 2018. He is currently the Dean of the Maritime Strategy Center at the Navy League of the United States. It is a civilian non-profit organization that supports American sea power. Admiral, thank you very much for joining us.
James Foggo: Great to be here, Michelle, with you and NPR.
MARTIN: So based on your experience, is a presidentially ordered blockade possible?
FOGGO: Yes, that’s totally possible. This is something that navies and our Navy have done before. You can go back to the Civil War when we blockaded Confederate ships that were carrying guns and supplies in and out of the South. So this is something that we are familiar with, the Navy has been trained on. And when the order is given, as they have been given, the Navy will execute it.
MARTIN: Based on your knowledge of international and maritime law, is this legal? These are considered international waters.
Foggo: Okay. Straight is not anyone’s straight. This is everyone’s compulsion. Therefore no one owns the strait. It is for free movement of goods and services on the high seas. So technically speaking, a blockade of a country or a country’s ability to export goods and services is an act of war, but charging $2 million per ship for transit through the strait is also illegal, which is what Iran is doing. And if you add that up to a hundred ships per day and 365 days a year, that’s a $73 billion profit. This exceeds the US Navy’s shipbuilding budget. So they will be able to reconstruct the things that have been taken away from them.
MARTIN: How risky is this kind of operation? I mean, the President says the US is already clearing mines in the strait. We may play a clip of him on Fox News tomorrow.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
President Donald Trump: We’ll drop one mine, two mines, 10 mines. And that would be – if you had a ship that was worth a billion dollars, you would say, well, you know, I don’t want to hit a mine and be destroyed, at least not lose my ship or have it badly damaged. And so this is one little thing that they can do and it’s military power and military power doesn’t do that. But, you know, it’s extortion.
Martin: Okay. But how serious a threat is this?
Foggo: Well, the mine threat is a very serious threat, and carrying out a blockade is a very serious task. As far as mines are concerned, we have been there before. During the Gulf War, the US Navy laid a thousand mines in the North Arabian Sea and around Kuwait. We eliminated them, but as I remember, at least three ships were hit. Except for the efforts of the crew, Samuel B. Roberts nearly sank – USS Princeton, USS Tripoli. But those two ships keep fighting. So it is very dangerous what we are trying to do.
MARTIN: Iran has already used drones to attack allies in the region and is also trying to attack oil tankers. So could drones be a factor here?
Foggo: Yes, absolutely. And you’ve seen Iranian drones purchased by the Russians and used very effectively in Ukraine. So the Iranians still have some missiles left. They shot down one of our M-15(ph). It seemed as if it was a shoulder-fired missile. They have drones, Shaheed drones, which have very good range. And the problem for us is that we are using high value munitions. Like a standard missile. To shoot down a drone – a standard missile, a few million bucks, a drone, $50,000. So they could use those drones to attack American ships that were maintaining the blockade.
However, the destroyers that will be part of this mission have been taught this in the Red Sea for the last three years, as the Houthis have thrown everything at them, and we have defended ourselves and defended others. So we know what we’re doing. And we also know what we are doing with minesweeping. Minesweeping has evolved over the years from placing minesweepers and people in minefields to remotely operated vehicles. And they are available when the CENTCOM commander feels he needs them.
MARTIN: Before we let you go, we’re talking about a variety of tips. But one of the things I’m curious about is that CENTCOM says the blockade will not hinder freedom of navigation for ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz from non-Iranian ports. How do they do that? How do they figure it out?
Foggo: Sure. Well, you know, one thing about the Aegis-class destroyer is that it sees everything for hundreds of miles. So it can pick up ships that are leaving Iranian ports and heading through the strait, that are trading or perhaps have paid tolls illegally, and stop them at sea with Channel 16 hail and then board the ship and conduct a search and seizure. And you can also search and seize any hostile ships. So if you need, they won’t slow down, you can get on board and stop the ship, and you can send the ship to another port like a Gulf Cooperation Council nation.
MARTIN: You feel confident in the capabilities here.
Foggo: I’m extremely confident. The Navy is doing very good work and will continue to do so.
MARTIN: That’s retired Navy Admiral James Foggo. He is the dean of the Maritime Strategy Center at the Navy League of the United States. Admiral, we thank you.
Foggo: Thank you, Michel.
Copyright © 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our Website Terms of Use and Permissions page at www.npr.org for more information.
The accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. The transcript text may be modified to correct errors or match updates to the audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The official record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
