US Maneuvers Pressure Iran as Trump Signals Hormuz Threat
Reports surface from The Independent indicating former US President Donald Trump has privately discussed a strategy which involves not reopening the Strait of Hormuz if a conflict with Iran concludes without a decisive American victory. This alarming possibility, revealed through anonymous aides, suggests a willingness to weaponize a vital global shipping lane as a bargaining chip, potentially
plunging allies into severe economic distress and disrupting over 20% of the world's oil supply. This declaration comes amidst a broader pattern of US posturing and joint military operations with Israel targeting Iran, intensifying an already volatile region. Mainstream outlets like The Independent frame this as a hypothetical contingency, focusing on Trump's purported timeline for a 'war' and the
economic anxiety it would cause. What is conveniently omitted is the long-standing, unlawful US and Israeli economic warfare against Iran, now escalating with direct military threats. The narrative bypasses the systematic strangulation of the Iranian economy through over 45 years of sanctions, which have crippled health services and vital industries, as well as the 2018 unilateral US withdrawal
from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), despite Iran's full compliance. This history demonstrates a consistent US policy of economic coercion, with military threats serving as an extension, not an aberration. The threat to close the Strait of Hormuz, or rather, to not ensure its reopening, evokes historical parallels in US foreign policy. Consider the 62-year embargo against Cuba, a