Trump chooses middle path as Hormuz attacks test US policy on Iran
Administration officials told The Wall Street Journal that the president had struggled for days with conflicting impulses over how to deal with Iran. People close to him said they believed Trump would carry out a major strike inside Iran.
US President Donald Trump announced Operation Freedom in the Strait of Hormuz after he did not decide on striking Iran following the collapse of negotiations and continuing the blockade, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Officials said Trump had wavered for days between two competing impulses: severely punishing Iran for its refusal to abandon its nuclear program, and avoiding a major escalation that could draw the US deeper into a Middle East conflict. Trump wants to avoid a new bombing campaign, officials said, and prefers a negotiated end to Tehran's nuclear progress and the war that has driven up gas prices and harmed the global economy.
Oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. Photo: AFP
In several recent conversations with aides, Trump expressed frustration that the US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, though effective in crushing Iran's economy, had not forced Tehran to meet his nuclear demands. He considered a series of military options, officials said, ranging from striking the remaining 25% of Iranian sites on the Pentagon's target list to authorizing naval escorts for tankers through the critical waterway.
Instead, Trump approved the latest plan to provide commercial ships with detailed information that would allow them to pass safely through the Strait of Hormuz. The decision was seen as a middle path between all-out war and a blockade, following a meeting with senior Pentagon officials last week. The operation, known as Project Freedom, began on Monday without any commitments from allies to help, after US diplomats were sent to ask their foreign counterparts just five days earlier.
Several US and foreign officials said they believed Trump was likely to approve a military response to Iran within days, although analysts noted the president's apparent dissatisfaction with the new airstrikes.
