When 73-year-old President Donald Trump cancelled the Iranian Nuke Deal May 8, 2018, the world groaned, worried that Iran would start up its uranium enrichment program. Meeting with Saudi Arabia King Salman and his Defense Minister son Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Trump committed himself to stopping Iran’s proxy war against the Kingdom. Arming Yemen’s Houthi rebels to fight Saudi Arabia, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei decided to attack U.S. interests in the Gulf, going to war against Saudi Arabia. Without firing a single shot, the Houthi’s became the Ayatollah’s perfect surrogates waging war against the Saudis. Unlike former President Barack Obama, Trump decided to do something about Iran’s malign behavior in the Persian Gulf, threatening, most recently, to shut down the narrow Strait of Hormuz through which 20% of world oil passes.
Trump’s policy to re-impose punitive economic sanctions on Iran, essentially preventing Iran from selling oil into world markets, hammered the Iranian stock market, decimated its rial currency and left its economy in shambles. Iran’s 59-year-old Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the U.S. was at “economic war” with Tehran, warning that the U.S. or its allies “cannot expect to stay safe.” Two days before Zarif’s remarks, four oil tankers in the Persian Gulf were hit with underwater mines, causing serious hull damage. When the situation repeated itself June 13 with two oil tankers, one Norwegian and the other from Japan, Trump blamed Iran’s Republican Guard Corps for planting magnetic Limpit mines on tankers’ hulls. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the bombings were “the latest in a series of attacks started by Iran and its surrogates against American and allied interests.”
Iran said on the day of the attack that it dispatched search-and-rescue vessels to evacuate sailors from the disabled vessels. U.S. officials denied that Iran rescued 44 sailors from the burning ships, setting the record straight that the U.S.S. Bainbridge rescued distressed sailors. Iranian naval forces surrounded the burning Hyundai Dubai, demanding that its Russian and Filipino crew go into Iranian custody. Iran has since released the Hyundai Dubai crew to Abu Dhabi. Examining the burning Japanese-owned Kokuka Courageous, a Dutch ship confirmed that the burning vessel had a Limpit mine stuck to its hull. Calling it a “gray explosive,” the crew of the Dutch vessel confirmed the presence of an Iranian explosive still stuck to the hull of the burning Kokuka Courageous. U.S. officials onboard the Kokuka Courageous confirmed the presence of a partial Limpet mine on the hull.
Trump’s April 8 labeling of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps [IRGC] a terror group prompted the attacks on shipping lanes in the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman. Iran can deny its involvement but it’s the only state with the resources to engage in that kind of mischief. U.S. officials have a black-and-white video of the IRGC removing what’s left of the Limpet mine from the Kokuka Courageous before it was towed to port for repairs. Parts of the magnet remained the hull, even after the IRGC removed the bulk of the explosive. Zarif said it best that he considers the U.S. “at war” with Iran, whether or not shots are fired. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed strong concerns about a possible escalation in the Gulf. Attacking defenseless oil tankers in the Gulf, Iran sends a strong message to U.S. and its allies: Any U.S. or its allies’ vessels are vulnerable to attack in the Gulf.
Whether Democrats in Congress or on the campaign trail accept it or not, Iran has become a menace to international shipping in key international waterways. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), one of Trump’s biggest critics, urged Congress to block Trump from any precipitous action against Iran. Trump already sent the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group to the Persian Gulf May 12, warning Iran not to think of shutting down the Strait of Hormuz. Iran’s, as stated clearly by Zarif, considers itself at war with the U.S., whether or not shots are fired. Trump’s allies in the region, including Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, have warned Iran against more provocations. Iran’s recent tanker attacks look like a response to Trump sending the Abraham Lincoln strike group to the area. Allowing Iran to continue attacking oil tankers hurts U.S. credibility in the region.
Trump and Pompeo have called Iran out for recent attacks on international shipping in the Persian Gulf. “On April 22, Iran promised the world it would interrupt the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz. It is now working to execute that promise,” said Pompeo. Everyone wants to avoid military conflict but Iran’s behavior has crossed a red line, threatening peaceful international commerce. “It is very important to know the truth,” said U.N. Secretary-General Guterres, worried about a conflict breaking out. Guterres and others in the U.N. and European Union have seen the videotape evidence, tying the IRGC to the exploded and unexploded Limpet mines. Guterres already knows the truth but, like others at the U.N., are too feckless to respond to Iran’s provocations. If Trump wants the U.S. to lead the world, then he must do more than talk about confronting terrorism, making the world a safer place.
