Trump Tells Aides to Prep for Lengthy Hormuz Blockade, Report Says
(Bloomberg) — President Donald Trump told his aides to prepare for an extended US Naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, the Wall Street Journal reported, as the US looks to intensify economic pressure on Iran as the war enters its third month.
The president, in meetings with top aides, decided to continue putting pressure on Iran’s ability to export oil by stopping any vessel heading to or from the Islamic Republic’s ports, the newspaper reported on Tuesday night. Trump determined that was a less risky option than resuming bombing or extracting the US from the conflict entirely, the outlet said.
The decision suggests that the US could be moving into a lengthy period with the fighting largely halted, but no durable resolution to the conflict, and the status of traffic through the Strait of Hormuz still uncertain.
The US has been blocking ships going to and from Iranian ports to try to squeeze the country of oil revenue, while Iran keeps the strait closed to almost all other traffic.
Trump earlier Tuesday said Iran had asked the US to lift the naval blockade of the strait while the two sides negotiate an end to the two-month war, which has upended global energy supplies.
Tehran wants the critical waterway for oil and gas shipments open “as soon as possible, as they try to figure out their leadership situation,” Trump said on Truth Social earlier Tuesday. Iran has said it’s in a “State of Collapse,” he added.
Iran has signaled it may be willing to accept an interim deal to reopen the strait in exchange for Washington ending its blockade of Iranian ports, while postponing more complex negotiations over the country’s nuclear program. It is insisting on keeping some control over shipping through the strait, which Washington is unlikely to accept.
Trump rejected that offer from Iran, according to the WSJ, and told aides it showed that Iran wasn’t negotiating in good faith. Mediators in Pakistan expect Iran will submit a revised proposal to end the war in the next few days, CNN reported on Tuesday, citing sources close to the mediation process.
Brent crude rose for a seventh straight session to settle above $111 a barrel, as concern grows of a protracted peace process that could keep Hormuz shut for an indefinite period.
