As the threat of renewed war grows, Washington is stepping up efforts to choke Tehran’s military supply networks, including through Task Force Iron Gate – a unit targeting land routes and the Caspian Sea.
With this, the US military is trying to prevent Iran from using land routes to transport advanced weapons and other materials, US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced on Saturday.
On the same day, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced ambitious plans for the creation of underground complexes capable of supporting missile and drone production under bombardment. The announcement comes amid reports of ongoing construction near Iranian missile bases, based on satellite images and previous claims by Tehran that U.S. strikes have failed to destroy its underground facilities.
Here’s what we know about the US task force:
What is the purpose of the working group?
Task Force Iron Gate will aim to find out where “weapons systems come into play, how they could potentially be cut off” and how “Iran transports its energy”, Michael Mulroy, former US assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East, told Al Jazeera.
It expands the US blockade of Iranian ports to cover Iran’s land borders and the Caspian Sea and would be led by 20 civilians and military personnel.
Iran shares borders with seven countries: Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Pakistan, Turkey and Turkmenistan.
Based in Tampa, Florida, the unit will coordinate with other U.S. government agencies “to prevent the movement of advanced weapons systems, dual-use technologies, sanctioned materials and illegal revenue flows across Iran’s land borders and the Caspian Sea,” CENTCOM said. Task Force Iron Gate will reinforce “the success of our maritime blockade against Iran,” said CENTCOM Commander Admiral Brad Cooper.
If US President Donald Trump escalates the war, there will likely be attacks on this “series of targets”, Mulroy said.
“Unlike Operation Epic Fury, which focused primarily on military objectives, I believe these objectives will be focused on economic and infrastructure objectives, as part of this overall plan to cut off the regime from its ability to fight and finance itself,” Mulroy said. “It is primarily a coordinating body looking at how the United States can intensify its strategy of economic strangulation by attacking land routes, when it already covers the majority of maritime routes.”
The IRGC has rejected the US military plan, calling it “a mere play on words”.
“The Americans cannot achieve their goal in this way, which is to exert strong economic pressure to collapse and disintegrate the Iranian economy,” said IRGC spokesperson Sardar Mohebi, reported by Fars news agency.
Washington previously “claimed that Iran would experience an economic collapse within two weeks, but we have seen that this has not happened,” he added.
Is the working group a response to reports of military ties between Russia and Iran?
Although the CENTCOM announcement did not explicitly identify the arms trade between Iran and Russia, analysts say the unit could be seen as an attempt to disrupt supply networks that include Russian connections.
US media reported that Russia sent drone components and explosives to Iran via the Caspian Sea. Some also claim that Russian technology could help Iran develop advanced supersonic cruise missiles.
Mahjoob Zweiri, professor of contemporary history and politics at Qatar University, told Al Jazeera that reports of military equipment being imported via Russia were a “real concern” for the United States.
The working group could therefore “provoke a confrontation with Russia,” he said.
Rami Khouri, a public policy researcher at the American University of Beirut and a nonresident senior fellow at the Arab Center in Washington, said of the new unit: “The United States really doesn’t really know what to do about Iran, as we’ve seen, and it’s doing things on the fly” — a strategy that has led to little success.
Can the United States really choke off Iran’s supply lines?
Khouri pointed to Iran’s history as a trading nation for thousands of years as proof that the U.S. mission is nearly impossible.
“There is a huge network of contacts that Iran has had for thousands of years with traders, partners and allies throughout the region, particularly in Asia – it is virtually impossible for the United States to isolate everything,” he said.
Even if the United States can impose a blockade or sanctions on Iran, it cannot control the behavior of everyone, from the Russians to the Chinese to the Emiratis and beyond, the analyst said.
“There are people throughout the region who have ties to Iran, some very close, some just commercial,” he said.
Much of the materials that go into Iran’s weapons systems are purchased from other countries – some even in the United States or Europe – and are then shipped through companies in Asia, Khouri added.
Could this change the course of the war?
Former Trump aide and top counterterrorism official Joe Kent, who resigned in March over the U.S. war on Iran, said the new task force was an attempt by CENTCOM to subvert ongoing diplomatic efforts.
“It’s CENTCOM inviting Iran to escalate while the Vice President tries to negotiate with the Iranians,” Kent posted on
According to the Wall Street Journal, CENTCOM chief Cooper is among several officials, along with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who are pressuring Trump to renew his attacks on Iran.
The working group could also be only symbolic, because the United States has no military presence in the Caspian Sea, Zweiri said.
“America does not have access to the sea, unless some neighboring countries like Azerbaijan, Armenia or others collaborate (with them)… And they don’t collaborate on this because they don’t want to upset Russia,” he said. “This will require…troops on the ground, and that is unlikely to happen.” »
Zweiri also said that the Caspian Sea’s contribution to Iran’s economy is only 11 percent, so the task force’s actions will not have much negative impact on Tehran.
Al Jazeera could not independently verify this figure, but the Caspian Sea represents only a fraction of Iran’s overall maritime trade, according to the New York-based Soufan Center.
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