President Donald Trump has sent sharply conflicting messages about who bears responsibility for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway through which one-fifth of the world's oil supply used to pass before the U.S.-Iran war choked it shut.
Trump said in a speech this week that the U.S. does not import oil from the Gulf and that the nations who do - in Europe and Asia - should be the ones forcing the strait open. "They must grab it and cherish it. They can do it easily," he said, according to a Wall Street Journal report, as "Hvylya" notes. He added that once the war ends, "the strait will open up naturally."
Hours earlier, Trump posted on Truth Social that the U.S. would be "blasting Iran into oblivion" until the strait is free and clear. He has already dispatched thousands of Marines and soldiers to the Middle East - units that could be used in a ground operation to force the waterway open.
Any such ground operation would carry significant risks. Iran relies on drones, missiles and small speedboats to strike vessels attempting to defy its blockade. The combination of asymmetric weapons has proven effective at paralyzing traffic through one of the world's most important energy chokepoints.
Vali Nasr, a professor at Johns Hopkins University and former senior State Department official who has been involved in informal discussions with Iranian representatives, said the strait has become Iran's only meaningful deterrent. "The only reason why they are surviving this war is because of the strait," Nasr said. Without it, Iran would have no bargaining chip left.
Earlier, "Hvylya" reported on why missile expenditure in Iran weakens U.S. deterrence capabilities elsewhere.