A ceasefire operates on a shared premise: both sides have agreed to stop fighting while they talk. A naval blockade is, however, an act of war. Not metaphorically.

There is no legal or doctrinal framework in which a ceasefire and a blockade coexist. There is a simple binary; you are either negotiating with your enemy or you are besieging them. In this case, Washington chose a siege.

Iran is playing the Sicilian. It did not meet Epic Fury with more fury. It responded with asymmetry in the shape of drone costing between $20,000 and $50,000 that force $4 million Patriot intercepts. SM-3 Block IIA interceptors at $36m went up against Iranian ballistic missiles at $500,000 to $2m.

The Mosaic Defence Doctrine — Difa-e-Mozaiki — was designed in the Iran-Iraq war for this. It disperses authority across the IRGC, Artesh, Quds Force, and the Supreme Leader’s office.

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