US President Donald Trump has announced the launch of Task Force Iron Gate to disrupt land routes into Iran allegedly used to transport weapons and illegal materials. The move expands Washington's efforts to tighten its blockade of Iran amid the eight-month-long war.

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced the formation of a 20-member team on Saturday. The task force will work alongside the US naval blockade of Iranian ports. Trump confirmed the development on Sunday through a post on his Truth Social platform.

"Task Force Iron Gate is in full force and effect in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Coupled with history's greatest Naval Blockade, very little gets into, or out of, Iran!" the president posted.

CENTCOM chief Admiral Brad Cooper said the new force would further restrict Iran's ability to fund militant activities and rebuild its military infrastructure. He said the force "will further constrain Iran's ability to finance terrorism, rebuild weapons factories, and replenish its military."

Based in Florida, the team comprises both civilian and military personnel. It will coordinate with various US government agencies to prevent the movement of advanced weapons systems, dual-use technologies, sanctioned materials and illegal revenue streams across Iran's land borders and the Caspian Sea.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), however, dismissed the move and said Washington's latest effort "will fail". It also rejected claims that the blockade could trigger an economic collapse in the country.

"The United States will never be able to impose the economic blockade it is pursuing and proposing under various names and through different plans," Guards spokesman Hossein Mohebi said, according to the Fars news agency.

"The Americans will not achieve their objective of exerting extreme economic pressure to bring about the collapse and disintegration of Iran's economy."

Mohebi also said the United States would be "powerless to block" communication channels between Iran and neighbouring countries.

CENTCOM claimed that the existing naval blockade had already prevented Iran from exporting more than $25 billion worth of crude oil.

In August, Washington announced an "economic asphyxiation" campaign targeting Iran's already weakened economy. The measures followed Tehran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a major route for global oil supplies. Iranian forces have repeatedly targeted vessels attempting to cross the strategic waterway without authorisation.