Report: White House Considers Ending War Without Opening Strait of Hormuz

IRGC attack boats as seen from a U.S. Navy destroyer (USN file image) — IRGC attack boats as seen from a U.S. Navy destroyer in the Strait of Hormuz, a pattern of harassment seen before the conflict (USN file image)

The White House is considering an option to end the Iran military campaign without reopening the Strait of Hormuz, leaving the task to allies in the Gulf and in Europe, according to the Wall Street Journal. The proposal would get U.S. forces out of the conflict quickly, satisfying the president's goal of a rapid in-and-out action; it would also leave Iran in control of the sole route to market for 13 percent of the world's oil and 20 percent of its LNG. If sustained over the long term, this would be a significant strategic gain for Iran.

Within just a few weeks of the start of hostilities, Iran has instituted a gated tollway system for the strait, charging fees of up to $2 million per passage for commercial voyages and negotiating diplomatic agreements with friendly nations for transit rights. Tehran says that the waterway is closed to the U.S., Israel and their allies; tankers and LNGCs from oil-exporting Gulf states are largely blocked. On Monday, Iran's parliament approved a domestic legal framework for regulating traffic on the international waterway, formalizing the "sovereign role" that Iran claims in the strait.

In public, the president has demanded that the strait be reopened, and has threatened to blow up Iran's electrical stations, desalination plants and oil wells if Iranian forces continue to throttle traffic in the waterway. In private, senior administration officials have quietly hinted that the president has other priorities and - as one official told MS NOW - "wants to move on." Trump is also reportedly frustrated with the Iranian government's inability to come up with responses to U.S. peace proposals, officials told the New York Times - a function of the Israeli assassination strikes targeting the upper echelons of the regime.

The administration has not formally acknowledged any plan to leave Hormuz in Iran's control. On Monday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News that there would be a gradual process to reopen the waterway, without a firm timeline. "Over time, the US is going to retake control of the straits and there will be freedom of navigation, whether it is through U.S. escorts or a multinational escort," Bessent said.

Separately, Secretary of State Marco Rubio released a list of four "clear objectives" for the war effort on Monday. The list includes the destruction of Iran's air force, navy, factories and missile launching systems, but omits the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.