Simultaneous with the formation of a special U.S. task force to expand Iran’s economic sanctions, Iraq’s foreign minister announced the closure of all of this country’s border crossings with Iran, except for two crossings. The spokesperson for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps also called the “Iron Gate” plan “wordplay.”

Mehtab Gholizadeh, an economic journalist, says about the impact of the new CENTCOM campaign on Iran’s imports and exports.