LOS ANGELES (OC).–President Donald Trump finds himself caught between a rock-and-a-hard place prosecuting the Iran War, with Iran stubbornly hanging onto the Strait of Hormuz, something its done for decades. Shutting down the Strait to commercial shipping has cause the price of crude oil to shoot up to over $100 a barrel, causing more pain at the pumps only months away from the 2026 Midterm elections where Democrats sit back and hope for a massacre on Election Day. Democrats and the fake news contend the Iran War was entirely unnecessary, something the U.S. could have lived with for the indefinite future. But the massacre by the mullah government of street protesters in December 2025 and January. Trump conferred with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and decided the time was right to push for regime change, something long overdue after 47-years of mullah rule.
Democrats and fake news have plenty of Monday morning quarterbacks, saying that Iran was not a threat to the United States. Former Counterintelligence chief Joe Kent insisted before leaving his post that Iran was not a threat to the United States. But with all Iran’s ballistic missile development and commitment to enriching uranium, it only makes sense that Iran was working on a nuclear armed ICBM, something that would have destabilized the Mideast and the world. If Iran had an ICBM, the radical mullahs wouldn’t hesitate to threaten the U.S. So, whether the fake news like it or not, Trump did what he could to advance U.S. foreign policy and national security. Sponsoring terrorism in the region was bad enough bu closing the Strait of Hormuz and now the Bab al-Mandab Strait in Yemen promises to cause havoc on Wall Street and around the globe.
Neutralizing Iran in the Strait of Hormuz won’t be easy after Iran spend decades fortifying its positions to block the Strait in case of a U.S. or Israeli war. With the mullah regime on shaky ground, Iran has put all its energy into blocking the flow of oil and liquefied natural gas from Arab Gulf State producers. Iran’s strategy is one of asserting control over the Strait of Hormuz to create as much financial havoc as possible for the U.S. and its Gulf State allies. Arab Gulf State have learned a valuable lesson after trying diplomacy with Iran for years. Clearly Iran sees the Arab Gulf States as close allies of the U.S. and Israel, despite their past support for Palestinians. Trump has led a new era for Arab-Israeli cooperation with his 2019 Abraham Accords. Iran sees its role in the region to promote ongoing war with Israel through its proxy terror groups lke the Houthis, Hamas and Hezbollah.
Trump’s European allies have stayed clear of any help in opening up the Strait of Hormuz, when, in fact, they get some of their oil from the Persian Gulf. No Asian customer of Persian Gulf oil, including China, India and other Asian countries, have offered to help open up the Strait of Hormuz. Trump finds himself going it alone, trying, on the one hand, diplomacy but watching the dismal reality of Iran fiercely blocking the Strait of Hormuz. With its military devastated over the last three weeks of war, Iran has only one defense card to play in blocking the Strait of Hormuz. Iran’s mullah regime could care less about damage to commercial shipping and the global economy. Iran thinks it can continue to hold the world hostage by blocking the Strait indefinitely. Trump is buying time to eventually take out the big guns to rake out Iran’s energy infrastructure.
With thousands of U.S. marines and paratroopers descending on the Mideast, Trump knows that the battle for control over the Strait of Hormuz draws near. Iran currently puts all its military resources, what left after four weeks of war, to blocking the Strait of Hormuz. Trump has a plan to end Iran’s Republican Guard’s stranglehold on the Strait. Iran has been letting its own tankers leave the Strait while charging outrageous fees for other ships to get through the strait. Unless Trump can pull off a diplomatic coup in the next week, it looks like Trump will be forced to strike Tehran’s energy infrastructure at Kharg Island and other spots. Iran’s public message is that it’s not negotiating an end to the war with the U.S. Trump insists he’s been in productive discussions with certain officials in the new mullah government. Whether that works or not, Wall Street doesn’t look impressed.
Iran currently head on a collision course with a major U.S. assault on its energy infrastructure. Trump’s advisors see Iran as stalling to continue fortify its control over the Strait of Hormuz. Iran’s mullah government has lost most of its navy, only has a limited supply of ballistic missiles to threaten its neighbors. Iran thinks only a terrorism strategy in the Strait of Hormuz gives it leverage over the U.S. and Israel. Whether Trump’s diplomacy works or not, most experts expect the war to escalate in Mid-April when the new contingent of U.S. forces are in place. Trump has limited options with Iran not likely to go quietly in the Strait of Hormuz. Pentagon planners are busy working on plans to rid the Strait of Republican Guard control. Judging by Wall Streets continued sell-off, it looks like the smart money sees more escalation in the near future.
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.
