LOS ANGELES (OC).– Showing the complexity of any peace deal with Iran, President Donald Trump agreed to end the blockaded of Iranian ports something Tehran said violated the two-month old ceasefire agreement. How ironic tha Iran accuses the U.S. of violationg the ceasefirer when Iran’s Republican Guard Corps has been blockading the Strait of Hormuz leaving hundreds of commercial ships stranded. Iran uses the IRGC fleet of armed-swift boats to attack commercial ship attempting to transit the Hormuz Strait, something far more egreigious than anything Trump di with a blockade of Iranian ports. Trump’s latest move now, to lift the U.S. naval blockade, leads the way for Iran to open up the Hormuz Strait, no longer sending terrorist swift boats to harass consersial vessels attempting to transit the international waterway. Only last sweek, Iran said it wanted sovereignty over the Hormuz Strait.
Trump didn’t buy Iran’s demand that it has a legal right to sovereignty over the Hormuz Strait. Trump said today that the Strait must be opened for international law for a global waterway, where no country controls ingress or egress into the narrow waterway. Iran wants Trump to release, as a matter of good faith, $12 billion in frozen Iranian assets, something bound to criticism from Democrats and Republicans alike. Before Trump cancelled former President Barack Obama’s 2015 Irania Nuke Deal, Obama released billionsin frozen assets to Tehran, prompting Trump to say Obama capitulated to Tehran. Now Trump is faced with the same dilemma, turing over Iranian assets, making the deal look like blackmail. But Trump must reluctantly engare with Iran in confidence building to get to the end point of reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
Listening to Iran’s mullah government call Trump untrustworthy sounds like Democrats and the fake news that says many uacceptable things about Trump. “Ships caught in the Strait due to our amazing and unprecedented naval blockade, whihich will now be lifted, may start the process of heading home,” Trump wroke on Truth Social. “Say HELLO to your wives, husbands, parents, and families from thie, your favorite agreement. But until Trump and Iran’s Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mohtaba Khamenei, there;s not real deal. But with Trump agreeing to end the blockade of Iranian ports, Iran’s IRGC and mullah leaders will be forced to reciprocate by opening up the Strait of Hormuz. Opening up the Strait means that they’ve called back the IRGC from attacking commercial vessels transiting the narrow waterway. Next, Trump will have to unfreeze billions in Iranian assets Whatever said in the past, the optics won’t look good for Trump to release cash to Iran.
Trump main objective in agreeing to any extended ceasefire is to get Iran during the 60-day window to negotiate on its 1,000 pound stockpile of 60% enriched uranium. Iran has said in the past it would never give up its fissile material but might, under current circumstances, transfer for safe keeping the enriched uranium to Russia. Whether Iran would accept that or not is anyone’s guess. But if Iran has no intent of building a nuclear bomb, why is the fissile material so important to the mullah government? Forrmer Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, no deceased, ordered Iran to enrich uranium to 60%, well-above the 3.5Z% needed for reactor fuel. Using its fissile material as deterrent, Iran has refused to curtail limits on uranium enrichment. Enriching uranium, as former Iranian President Mahmoud Admadinejad once said, Iran is a nuclear power that mus be feared.
Lifting the blockade signals that Trump is ready to sign a 60-day extension to the original ceasefire fire agreement, paving the way for Iran to open up the Hormuz Strait. Full, unrestricted commercial shipping must be returned to the Strait, allowing the backlog of ship to finally move through the Hormuz Strait. Trump finds himself with diminishing returns to the Iran War, knowing that the radical mullahs almost welcome a more devastating attack from Trump making them the victim of U.S. aggression. When it comes to ending the blockade and releasing frozen Iranian assets, that the easy part to the deal. Dealing with the nuclear issue is far more complicated for the mullah regime because uranium enrichment is a source of pride for the regime. Whatever happens after the first phase of the ceasefire will determine whether Trump return to bombing Iran’s infrastructure.
Trump doesn’t have many options left because Wall Street wants the war over at the earliest possible time. American consumers are disgusted with the artificially high energy prices, paying way too much at the pump, when the U.S. gets none of its oil and natural gas from the Persian Gulf. Trump war affects worldwide oil prices, fueling inflation and causing hardship to ordinary consumers. When it comes to Iran, they have even more reasons to cut a peace deal to help restore its battered economy, reeling from the Trump’s blockade, preventing Iran from delivering its products on the world market. Iran only sees itself as the victim of U.S. aggression, not the cause of any aggression against innocent shipping companies trying to deliver Arab Gulf State oil and natural gas to global markets. Both the U.S. and Iran benefit from a lasting peace deal.
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.
