The United States is implementing economic sanctions alongside a naval blockade aimed at Iran. These new measures specifically target cooperatives interacting with Tehran, striving to disrupt its funding sources.

Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei (pictured) was named Iran's new supreme leader on March 8, a week after joint US-Israeli airstrikes killed his father Ali Khamenei on February 28.

Iran may believe time is working against US President Donald Trump. Further disruption in the Strait of Hormuz could push oil and petrol prices higher, add to US inflation and become a political problem before the US midterm elections in November. That gives Tehran an obvious date to watch, but relying on American elections is a gamble.

Iran and Oman are discussing a temporary transit corridor and mine-clearing for the Strait of Hormuz, but Tehran warned on Wednesday that the vital waterway will not be reopened unless the United States ends the war.

Treasury Department and other federal agencies would "tighten the noose and block every potential source of revenue that funds" the regime and Iran's military, beginning with additional sanctions on Tehran.