Trump reportedly assessed that a mission to pry open the chokepoint would push the conflict beyond his timeline of four to six weeks.
New Delhi: US President Donald Trump told his aides he is “willing to end” the military operation against Iran – even if the Strait of Hormuz remains largely closed, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing administration officials. This comes days after Trump threatened Iran that the US would ‘obliterate’ its power plants if Tehran does not allow shipping operations through the Strait.
According to the report, Trump said that he would leave a ‘complex operation’ to reopen the chokepoint that carries around a fifth of the world’s oil supply for a “later date”.
The President reportedly assessed that a mission to pry open the chokepoint would push the conflict beyond his timeline of four to six weeks.
Trump decided that the US should achieve its main goals of hobbling Iran’s navy and its missile stocks and wind down current hostilities while pressuring Tehran diplomatically to resume the free flow of trade, the report said, adding that if that fails, Washington would press allies in Europe and the Gulf to take the lead on reopening the Strait.
The Hormuz sea passage, which connects the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea, is an important route for approximately 25 per cent of the world’s oil – and even more for India, whose 80 per cent of energy important passes through it. Iran has closed the passage for shipping, especially for the US and countries supporting the war – bringing to a near halt the transit of hundreds of vessels per day, including container, dry bulk, and liquid cargo ships.
The war began on February 28 when the US and Israel carried out coordinated airstrikes across Iran after stalled nuclear talks and claims that Tehran had resumed its nuclear activities. The strikes, named ‘Operation Epic Fury’, targeted many Iranian cities and killed many top leaders, including Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iran has been launching retaliatory strikes, many of which have damaged Gulf regions, including Dubai, Kuwait, Abu Dhabi, Qatar, and Bahrain.
Trump would be interested in calling on Arab countries to pay for the cost of the Iran war, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Monday, adding that she thinks Trump would have more to say on the issue.
Leavitt, asked at a news briefing whether Arab countries would step up to help pay for the war, said she would not get ahead of Trump, but that it was an idea that Trump had. “I think it’s something the president would be quite interested in. I won’t get ahead of him on that, but certainly it’s an idea, something that I think you’ll hear more from him on,” she said.
