Iran's Oil Revenue Is Running Out, but 71% of Americans Want the Conflict to End First

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Iran has only a handful of oil shipments left at sea that escaped the US blockade, and that once those are sold, almost all of Iran's oil revenue will dry up. He said the shipments slipped through during a brief ceasefire and the period covered by a memorandum of understanding.

The economic squeeze is the measurable part of the story. The political squeeze at home is just as clear. A Reuters/Ipsos poll found 71% of Americans support legislation to end the US conflict with Iran, and 62% favor repealing the tariffs imposed by President Trump. Republicans lost control of Congress in the midterm elections.

Allies are moving too. South Korea plans to expand its anti-piracy Cheonghae unit's operations to waters near Duqm, Oman, about 650 kilometers from the Strait of Hormuz. Its defense ministry said the move followed pressure from Trump to support the war in Iran.

A headline circulating this week claimed US Army radar sites were hit and two tankers bombed in a "fresh Hormuz shockwave." Those specific strike details are not corroborated. What is documented is a pressure campaign: sanctions tightening on Iran's oil exports, a US public that wants the conflict to end, and allied navies repositioning closer to the world's most important oil chokepoint.

That combination points to a conflict entering a phase of attrition rather than a single dramatic escalation. Iran's remaining oil shipments are a finite buffer. Once they are gone, the revenue loss becomes structural. At the same time, the domestic appetite for continuing the war is thin, and the allied naval moves near Hormuz are defensive and logistical, not a new front.

The open questions are concrete. Whether radar sites were actually hit, and where, remains unconfirmed. The status of the ceasefire and the memorandum of understanding Rubio referenced is not clear. South Korea's parliament has not approved the expanded Cheonghae operations. And Iran has not said how it will respond to the oil revenue squeeze.