Blitz Bureau
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 US 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 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.
