From New York Times, I'm Michael Barrow.

This is the Daily.

It is a high-stakes game of blockade chicken.

The U.S. asserts control over the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran, for its part, threatens retaliation.

For the past two days, the United States has enforced a risky naval blockade of Iran,

designed to end the war on American terms.

So what are we doing? We're blockading the ports in Iran where they get oil and gas shipments.

Without oil and gas money, Iran has no economy.

Today, a look at the strategy behind the blockade, the dangers that it poses, and whether or not

it's actually working. We can't let a country blackmail or extort the world, because that's what

they're doing. They're really blackmailing the world. We're not going to let that happen.

I spoke with White House correspondent David Sanger, energy reporter Rebecca Elliott, and military

correspondent Eric Schmidt.

It's Wednesday, April 15th.

David, Rebecca, Eric, Eric, thank you for joining us for this roundtable discussion.

We appreciate it.

Great to be here.

Thanks for having me.

Thank you.

David, I want to start with where the idea for this blockade comes from.

It emerges right after Iran basically sent Vice President J.D. Vance packing, sends him

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