"This whole issue of the American blockade of Hormuz is linked to what is called maritime coercion. The aim of this doctrine is economic strangulation rather than outright denial. So, it's a sort of hybrid legal-economic-enforcement regime that is being put into place," Arun Sahgal, retired Brigadier and Delhi Policy Group-associated analyst, told Sputnik India.
To shut off the strait, the US has set up a surveillance zone in the Gulf of Oman with patrols, drones, and satellite tracking, Saghal pointed out, explaining that intercepted ships are ordered to return, and any resistance is met with what is called coercive compliance.
"The problem with executing this strategy is the lack of manoeuvring space for escort vessels. All US operations are within Iranian range, so Tehran's surveillance, missiles, and drones are all watching the Americans closely. That makes their task very difficult," he stressed.
However, if such a scenario occurs, Hormuz would become a death trap for ships — even American military vessels, the observer underlined.
The US has no legal basis on which it can execute a blockade, retired Major General Prabdeep Singh Behl stated in an interview with Sputnik India, adding that China proved America is just bullying.
The Chinese have just tested US, and will do so again, and the world will soon find that the Americans cannot enforce such kind of blockade with the meagre resources that they have put in place, he stressed.
"Additionally, Americans would require many destroyers, at least half a dozen attack submarines, hundred odd aircraft for surveillance and minesweepers, since the Iranians have mined certain portions of the strait," Behl asserted. "The entire gambit of a naval operation is required, and at the moment, the US is woefully short of that."