US President Donald Trump has told his aides to prepare for an extended US naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, The Wall Street Journal reported, as Washington 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 (US time). Trump determined that was a less risky option than resuming bombing or extracting America 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 maritime 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.
Earlier on Tuesday, Trump said Iran had asked the US to lift the naval blockade 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. Iran has said it’s in a “State of Collapse”, he added.
Iran has signalled it may be willing to accept an interim deal to reopen the strait in exchange for Washington ending the blockade, while postponing more complex negotiations over the country’s nuclear program. It insists on keeping some control over the strait, though, which Washington is unlikely to accept.
Trump rejected that offer, according to the WSJ, and told aides it showed that Iran wasn’t negotiating in good faith. Mediators in Pakistan expect Iran to submit a revised proposal to end the war in the next few days, CNN reported on Tuesday, citing sources close to the process.
Brent crude rose for a seventh straight session to settle above $US111 a barrel, as concern grew of a protracted peace process that could keep Hormuz shut for an indefinite period. The strategic strait, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas flowed before the conflict began, remains at a virtual standstill.
