Trump is ready to end the war with Iran, even if the Strait of Hormuz isn’t fully open. Reports say that Washington has changed its plan to keep hostilities from going on for more than the expected 4–6 weeks. Instead of trying to force open the strait, the focus is now on weakening Iran’s navy and missile capabilities. The U.S. might pass the responsibility for fixing things to its European allies and Gulf states, while putting more pressure on Tehran through diplomacy.
Trump has told his team he’s ready to end the war with Iran, even if the Strait of Hormuz isn’t fully open. The Wall Street Journal says so.
The publication says Washington has recently changed its strategy for the campaign. Officials there figured that trying to forcibly restore full navigation through the Strait of Hormuz could significantly prolong hostilities and take them beyond the scope of the initial plan, which was a short operation lasting 4–6 weeks.
Because of this, Trump has decided to change his plan: instead of trying to control the strait completely, the U.S. will try to achieve some important military goals—making the Iranian navy weaker, reducing Tehran’s missile capabilities, and slowly ending the active phase of hostilities.
At the same time, Washington plans to increase diplomatic pressure on Iran to force it to restore freedom of navigation on its own.
If this doesn’t work out, the U.S. might pass the responsibility for opening the strait to its allies, especially the European countries and Gulf states.
The publication’s sources also say that Trump isn’t ruling out military options, but he doesn’t think they’re a priority right now.
The article says that ending the war without reopening the Strait of Hormuz will have strategic consequences: It’s likely that Iran will tighten its control over this route, which is really important, and the issue of reopening it will have to wait.