Tuesday, 4 August 2026

Is Trump going to allow Iran to control the Strait of Hormuz?

The only talks gpoing on about Iran are the ones between Tehran and Oman about joint administration of the Strait of Hormuz. The focus is on Iran charging a service fee for ships entering the Gulf waterway through the Strait, and Oman charging a similar service fee for ships leaving the Gulf. It looks like Trump had this in mind when he called off the new round of bombing and said there was a deal in the offing. How dramatically things have changed. Not that long ago, Trump and Marco Rubio, his secretary of state and national security adviser, said the only way ahead was for the Strait to be totally opened and free of any kind of fee or toll. This was, after all, the situation before the war was started by the US and Israel. Now, five months later, the Iranians apoear to be on the brink of getting something which is both counter to international maritime law and to the wishes of the White House and every shipping company which uses the Gulf waterway. What an extraordinary and perilous change in circumstances. It's victory for Iran, however it is put by American officials. Now we'll have the Houthis in Yemen saying they want control of the strait linking the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, and China will be making demands about the Taiwan Strait etc etc. This is definitely the way things are going re Iran because Trump is so frustrated by the way the war has hit him back in the face that he wants an end to it whatever the deal looks like. It's seriously bad news. However, the only alternative is war and more war.

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