--- title: "U.S. Military Forms Task Force to Cut Iran’s Land and Caspian Sea Routes" description: "Iran’s Revolutionary Guards called the 20-person unit “merely wordplay,” and a former Trump official said it works against Vance’s talks." author: "rews desk" published: 2026-11-08T14:06:19Z modified: 2026-11-08T18:00:14Z url: https://rews.cc/a/u-s-military-forms-task-force-to-cut-iran-s-land-and-caspian-8abfac language: en tags: ["iran", "war", "security", "russia", "sanctions", "mideast", "us"] publisher: "Rews (https://rews.cc)" --- # U.S. Military Forms Task Force to Cut Iran’s Land and Caspian Sea Routes *Iran’s Revolutionary Guards called the 20-person unit “merely wordplay,” and a former Trump official said it works against Vance’s talks.* By rews desk · November 8, 2026 · https://rews.cc/a/u-s-military-forms-task-force-to-cut-iran-s-land-and-caspian-8abfac ## In brief - CENTCOM set up Task Force Iron Gate on Saturday to cut Iran’s weapons and revenue routes over land and across the Caspian Sea - The unit has about 20 civilian and military staff, is based in Tampa and was ordered by Adm. Brad Cooper - CENTCOM says the sea blockade has kept more than $25 billion in Iranian crude from being exported in recent months - IRGC spokesman Hossein Mohebbi called the plan “merely wordplay” and said it would not collapse Iran’s economy - Former counterterrorism chief Joe Kent said the move invites escalation while Vice President JD Vance negotiates with Iran The U.S. military said on Saturday that it had set up a task force to stop Iran from moving advanced weapons, sanctioned goods and money across its land borders and the Caspian Sea, pushing its naval blockade of Iranian ports inland. Task Force Iron Gate, ordered by Adm. Brad Cooper, the commander of U.S. Central Command, is a staff of about 20 civilian and military personnel based in Tampa, Fla., [according to the command](https://www.turkiyetoday.com/region/us-launches-task-force-iron-gate-to-choke-irans-land-caspian-routes-3231934). It will work with other agencies “on preventing the movement of advanced weapons systems, dual-use technologies, sanctioned materials and illegal revenue streams across Iran’s land borders and the Caspian Sea,” CENTCOM said, [as Al Jazeera reported](https://aljazeera.com/news/2026/11/8/us-task-force-to-cut-off-irans-transport-of-advanced-weapons-what-we-know). Iran borders seven countries: Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Pakistan, Turkey and Turkmenistan. The command didn’t say which crossings it would watch or how it would enforce anything. “The establishment of Task Force Iron Gate reinforces the success of our ironclad blockade against Iran at sea,” Admiral Cooper said. Closer work among agencies, he said, “will further constrain Iran’s ability to finance terrorism, rebuild weapons factories, and replenish their military.” ![A towering metal border fence stretches across desert terrain and into the sea, separating a cargo ship from a truck on a winding road.](https://rews.cc/img/75a9600b1ae847f27c4220c101d2463e81a561c2.webp) The blockade, announced in July, covers Iran’s ports on the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. CENTCOM says it has kept more than $25 billion in Iranian crude from being exported in recent months. Tehran has made lifting it a condition for [reopening the Strait of Hormuz](https://rews.cc/a/tehran-reads-vance-s-letter-and-answers-with-its-terms-for-a-449446). Hossein Mohebbi, a spokesman for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, told the semiofficial Fars news agency that the plan was “merely wordplay,” [Middle East Eye reported](https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/iron-gate-plan-merely-wordplay-iran-mocks-us-plan-disrupt-supply-routes). “The Americans cannot achieve their goal through this, which is to apply severe economic pressure to collapse and disintegrate the Iranian economy,” he said, in Al Jazeera’s translation. Washington once “claimed that Iran will suffer an economic collapse within two weeks, but we witnessed that this did not happen,” he said. The Guards also announced plans on Saturday for underground complexes meant to keep missile and drone production running under bombardment. Satellite imagery has shown construction near Iranian missile bases. ![A cutaway collage shows missiles and a flying wing aircraft stored in underground concrete tunnels beneath an orange cratered landscape and a red sun.](https://rews.cc/img/b9c83ebfae32387d398277ffc588255fb99e7d14.webp) Joe Kent, who ran the National Counterterrorism Center under President Trump and resigned in March over the war, said the military was getting ahead of diplomacy while Vice President JD Vance [negotiates with Tehran](https://rews.cc/a/to-end-the-war-vance-asks-tehran-for-a-meaningful-cut-in-enr-e70334). “This is CENTCOM inviting Iran to escalate while the vice president is attempting to negotiate with the Iranians,” Mr. Kent wrote on X. He called it “policy by CONOP,” which he described as the military finding “a way to subvert the White House without blatantly disobeying the President.” Enforcing it, he wrote, “risks a shoot-down that would inevitably launch us back into kinetic war.” The Wall Street Journal has reported that Admiral Cooper and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth are among the officials [pressing Mr. Trump](https://rews.cc/a/centcom-has-iran-strike-options-ready-hegseth-has-them-trump-cfb7df) to resume attacks on Iran. Michael Mulroy, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East, told Al Jazeera that the unit was “primarily a coordination body” looking to carry an “economic strangulation strategy” onto ground routes, since most sea routes were already covered. If Mr. Trump escalates, the routes it maps would likely be hit, he said. “Unlike Operation Epic Fury, which primarily (focused) on military targets, I think these targets will be focused on economic and infrastructure targets,” Mr. Mulroy said. ![A red targeting circle overlays a vintage collage of industrial silos, freight train cars, and branching railway tracks on a blue background.](https://rews.cc/img/97a726e33e1189e727ba6aad01810c2c3c622b3c.webp) CENTCOM’s statement did not mention Russia. U.S. news outlets have reported that Moscow has sent drone components and explosives to Iran across the Caspian. Mahjoob Zweiri, a professor of contemporary history and politics at Qatar University, told Al Jazeera the task force could “cause a confrontation with Russia.” He also said it might be mostly symbolic. The United States has no military presence on the Caspian, and neighbors such as Azerbaijan and Armenia are “not collaborating on this because they don’t want to upset Russia,” Mr. Zweiri said. He put the sea’s share of Iran’s economy at 11 percent, a figure Al Jazeera could not verify. The Soufan Center, in New York, has said the Caspian carries only a fraction of Iran’s maritime trade. Rami Khouri, a public policy fellow at the American University of Beirut, said Iran’s trading ties across Asia went back thousands of years and that “it’s virtually impossible for the US to seal off every one.” Washington, he said, has had little to show for its approach. “The US really doesn’t quite know what to do about Iran as we’ve seen, and it’s doing things off the cuff,” Mr. Khouri said.