Brian Clark, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, stated that the US has very limited room to escalate its blockade of Iranian ports without putting the US military at significant risk. Historically, no war has ever been won solely through air power. The only remaining military option for the US is to "open the Strait of Hormuz and protect passing ships by force," which requires the active escort of commercial shipping using naval and air force power—a step the US has so far avoided. The US has not actually deployed warships to protect shipping through the Strait of Hormuz; using force to protect commercial shipping could lead to a repeat of the 1980s tanker wars, resulting in attacks on ships. The next step would be to deploy ground troops. However, before deploying ground troops, the US may attempt at least limited escort operations to try and show Iran that they do not truly control the Strait of Hormuz. This stalemate is expected to end with "Iranians and Yemenis controlling the strait through some kind of toll arrangement," and the US will need to find some "fig leaf" to allow them to at least say that they have resolved the issue in a way that does not harm US interests.
