LOS ANGELES (oc).–Telling Iran to make a deal on opening the Strait of Hormuz to restore normal shipping through the Persian Gulf, President Donald Trump said time was running out before the U.S. opens up the big guns on Iran’s energy infrastructure. If the defiant mullah regime wants to keep the lights on in Tehran, a city of 9.7 million, they’d better act now or face the full wrath of the U.S. military. Iran has boasted recently that keeping the Strait of Hormuz blocked proves that Iran has won the war, when, in fact, they have seen the military all but destroyed in four short weeks. Iran claims victory of the U.S. and Israel because they still mine and bomb commercial tankers and freighters making the normal passage in an international waterway. Now Iran claims that to end the war Trump and the global community must recognize Iran’s sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz.
No country in the world can accept Iran’s claim of sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, through which some 20% of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas passes under normal circumstances. Iran rejected Trump’s 15-point peace proposal, introducing their own plan that would have the U.S. pay war reparations and recognize sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz. Iran’s mullah regime is on a suicide mission out of pure bravado, pushing Trump to take more lethal action on Iran’s energy sector. Trump once told Ukraine’s 48-year-old president Volodymyr Zelensky he didn’t have the cards to dictate terms of any peace settlement in Ukraine. Iran’s mullah regime thinks after watching much of its military decimated over the last four weeks that it can call the shots with the U.S. Trump served notice to the mullah regime that their walking on thin ice.
Iran’s mullah regime can’t stomach the fact that they’ve taken a bad beating from the U.S. military four the last four weeks. If the mullah regime can’t come to its senses soon, they could watch their electrical grid destroyed in short order. Since Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in an Israeli airstrike Feb. 28, Iran has been in retaliation more but only strikes out at itself. Trump has offered to lift all oil sanctions that prevent Iran from selling its oil and liquefied natural gas to world markets. Trump’s requirements for peace only make sense after years of mullah regime sponsoring terrorism for decades. Trump wants Iran to let the U.N.’s IAEA to supervise any remaining nuclear enrichment activity and limit its ballistic missile capability to not threaten Israel and its Arab Gulf State neighbors. Iran finds Trump’s peace proposal unacceptable.
Iran is in no place to assert sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz. While they’ve bullied other countries for years, the Strait of Hormuz must remain a global waterway where free, unimpeded shipping can take place. Trump was willing to work with the mullah regime as long as they met certain basic conditions for future peace in the region. How could the mullah regime think the U.S. would pay war reparations when they’ve sponsored terrorism in the region for years. Iran’s mullah regime are numbered, largely because they have no popular support with Iran’s 90 million population. Iran could have 10% support at best with many Iranians brainwashed after 47-years of mullah rule. Iranians want to live with less religious restrictions, certainly not face extreme punishment for trying to live freely. Trump wants to work with a cooperative Iranian government.
Arab Gulf States want Iran to stop in aggression in the Persian Gulf, allowing normal shipping lanes to open up without restrictions. Iran’s mullah government has been blackmailing tankers and freighters, paying millions for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran has run out of time when it comes to opening up the Strait of Hormuz. What’s left of Iran’s mullah regime thinks it can humiliate Trump by proving it can keep the Strait of Hormuz closed indefinitely. So, when it comes to their last stand in the war, keeping the Strait of Hormuz closed has symbolic value. Iran’s elite Republican Guards know that there’s not much left to the Iranian military after weeks of U.S. and Israeli bombardment. Iran’s mullah’s can control how the war will be settled.
Rejecting Trump’s 15-point peace plan, Iran’s mullah regime pretends it has control of the peace process. Demanding sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz shows how out-of-touch the mullah regime with reality. Trump did everything to give the mullah regime a face-saving way out of the conflict before he must bring out the big guns to take down Iran’s energy infrastructure. Iran can’t dictate the terms to surrender when it’s been vanquished by the U.S. and Israeli militaries. Adding 5,000 U.S. marines to mix, Trump wants whatever’s left of Iran’s mullah leadership to get the message that they must give up the Strait of Hormuz. Iran has no legal right to restrict passage through a global waterway, not something controlled by any one country. Trump has spoken clearly what comes next for Iran if they don’t open up the Strait of Hormuz. It’s all up to Iran now.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
