️🇺🇸🇮🇷🇹🇷🇮🇶🇵🇰 - US efforts to pressure Iran's neighbors to close their land borders have so far failed, with Turkey, Iraq and Pakistan resisting Washington's demands, according to the New York Times.
️ For weeks, US officials have tried and failed diplomatically to persuade the three countries to close their crossings, as the neighbors grow increasingly wary of policies they say could hurt them as much as Tehran. Turkey has largely refused to change its border policy, while Iraq has rejected US requests to close all but two crossings.
️ The resistance has thwarted Washington's efforts to tighten its economic blockade on Iran, prompting the US Central Command to launch the task force's Iron Gate on Saturday. The 20-member team, based in Tampa, Florida, will work to prevent the movement of advanced weapons systems, dual-use technologies, protected materials and illicit revenue streams across Iran's land borders and the Caspian Sea.
️ It is still unclear how the task force will actually operate, and it is unusual that such an economic and security campaign is managed by Centcom. Admiral Brad Cooper said the force was strengthening the "iron blockade" in the sea, while Iran's Revolutionary Guards rejected the effort, saying it would "fail" and not lead to an economic collapse.