By Sean Miller | Source

President Donald Trump may be exercising an exit strategy from Iran by abandoning U.S. efforts of keeping the Strait of Hormuz open.

All of those countries that can’t get jet fuel because of the Strait of Hormuz, like the United Kingdom, which refused to get involved in the decapitation of Iran, I have a suggestion for you: Number 1, buy from the U.S., we have plenty, and Number 2, build up some delayed courage, go to the Strait, and just TAKE IT. You’ll have to start learning how to fight for yourself, the U.S.A. won’t be there to help you anymore, just like you weren’t there for us. Iran has been, essentially, decimated. The hard part is done. Go get your own oil! President DJT

Importantly, Iran is only blocking U.S. and Israeli ships from passing through the waterway. Other national-flagged vessels have clear passage (though the risk of passage due to mines and accidental attack is preventing most ships from attempting the voyage).

Al Jazeera explained Iran’s selective blockade:

In a statement on Tuesday, Iran’s mission to the United Nations said vessels may avail of “safe passage” through the waterway, “provided that they neither participate in nor support acts of aggression against Iran and fully comply with the declared safety and security regulations.”

Trump may be alluding to this when he said “build up some delayed courage, go to the Strait.”

The Wall Street Journal reported Monday evening that the President is considering abandoning military options in the strait:

WASHINGTON—President Trump told aides he’s willing to end the U.S. military campaign against Iran even if the Strait of Hormuz remains largely closed, administration officials said, likely extending Tehran’s firm grip on the waterway and leaving a complex operation to reopen it for a later date.

In recent days, Trump and his aides assessed that a mission to pry open the chokepoint would push the conflict beyond his timeline of four to six weeks. He decided that the U.S. 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. If that fails, Washington would press allies in Europe and the Gulf to take the lead on reopening the strait, the officials said.

The deescalation move would be a turn of events from the current direction the White House is going with Iran.

The Pentagon is considering a ground invasion of Iran despite Israel refusing to help in the operation. Trump is even considering sending troops deep into Iran to snatch 1000 pounds of uranium in what Alex Jones has described as a “suicide mission.”

Iran has demanded that the U.S. abandon its bases in the Persian Gulf region. If Trump is effectively “forced” to make such a move, at least in part, it could fulfill a long-term stated goal of his to stop the U.S. from remaining the “policeman of the world.”

“We are not wanting to be the policeman of the world,” Trump said in 2018.

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