The U.S. and Iran are locked in a standoff that will only break when one side decides it can no longer tolerate the pain. Who will move is unclear.

Wolfe Research warns that the blockade will lengthen the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, and that it could force Iran to eventually retaliate violently.

The Trump administration has repeatedly insisted that the central goal of the conflict is keeping Iran from ever obtaining a nuclear weapon.