US President Donald Trump has told his top advisers in recent days that he wants to continue the US naval blockade of Iranian ports, and his team has begun preparing the ground for such an extension, including a long-term closure of the Strait of Hormuz, according to sources familiar with the talks.
Trump, at least for now, is sticking to a strategy designed to inflict as much economic damage as possible on Iran, hoping that will force Tehran to return to the negotiating table without the need for further military strikes, writes CNN.
But the strategy to resolve the war, which has entered nine weeks, also carries risks for Trump, who once predicted that the conflict would not last more than six weeks.
Political pressure
The closure of the strait has pushed up fuel prices, adding to Americans’ war weariness and sending Trump’s approval ratings, particularly on economic management, to new lows.
A high-ranking Pentagon official told lawmakers yesterday that the US has spent 25 billion dollars so far on the war in Iran. All of this is fueling concern within the Republican Party about the prospects for the November election.
It is also uncertain whether this strategy will succeed at all – Iran has previously demonstrated the ability to withstand devastating economic pressure without giving in to US demands.
Still, Trump appears determined to increase pressure on Iran’s economy until Tehran gives in to his red lines on uranium enrichment, believing, in his own words, that the US “holds all the trump cards.”
– Blockade is somewhat more effective than bombing. They choke like a gluttonous pig. And it will get worse for them. I can’t have nuclear weapons,” Trump told Axios in a phone interview on Wednesday.
Later in the Oval Office, he hinted that the US was prepared for a long fight, saying the war in Iran could end “on a similar schedule” to the war in Ukraine – a conflict that has lasted more than four years and shows no sign of abating anytime soon.
Collapse of the economy
U.S. officials have analyzed intelligence that suggests Iran’s economy can last only a few more weeks, if not days, before the pressure of the blockade causes it to collapse, two people familiar with the talks said, pointing to Tehran’s difficulty storing unsold oil.
Trump has suggested that it won’t be long before excess oil causes permanent damage to Iran’s energy infrastructure.
– What happens is that the whole system explodes from the inside, both mechanically and in the country itself – he told Fox News.
– Something happens and it just explodes. They say they only have three days left before that happens. And when it explodes, you can never restore it as it was – he says.
