Five ways Trump could target Iran’s economy from ‘teapot’ sanctions to land blockade

# Why This Matters The Trump administration's potential shift toward more aggressive Iran sanctions represents a fundamental escalation in economic warfare that would reverberate far beyond Tehran. A coordinated land blockade—cutting off Iran's overland trade routes through Iraq, Turkey, and Pakistan—would cripple Iran's ability to circumvent existing oil sanctions and could reduce its crude exports to near-zero levels, destabilizing global energy markets and potentially raising oil prices by $10-15 per barrel. This strategy's success depends entirely on securing cooperation from neighboring countries, making it a test of Trump's diplomatic leverage in a region where both Russia and China have competing interests in maintaining Iranian trade relationships. The domestic inflation impact alone—driven by higher energy costs—could undermine the administration's economic messaging, while the geopolitical risk is substantial, as Iran has historically responded to economic pressure through proxy conflicts and nuclear program acceleration rather than capitulation.