After telling the country we needed to keep the war going to stop Iran from blockading the Strait of Hormuz, Donald Trump announced that he is… blockading the Strait of Hormuz.
This is one of the most absurd, embarrassing and enraging turn of events in living memory. The Strait of Hormuz is perhaps the most economically important waterway in the world, absolutely vital for not only fuel exports but also fertilizer production and medical and high-tech industries. Ships could pass freely in and out before the war. But once Trump and Israel attacked, the Strait was closed.
The Iranian government never actually imposed a full blockade on the Strait, it only prohibited ships from countries at war with Iran from crossing. Ships from peaceful countries were required to pay a toll, a measure Iran said was necessary to collect money to rebuild from the devastation of the U.S.-Israeli bombardment. But still, Trump’s demand that they “open the f— Strait” was the basis for the continuation of the war, as well as his genocidal threat that Iran’s “whole civilization will die tonight.”
Trump accepted a temporary ceasefire to negotiate a peace agreement. This left Iran in effective control of the Strait, and it has continued to implement a toll system to pay for reconstruction. This humiliation apparently became too much for Trump to bear. After Iran refused to surrender during negotiations over the weekend, Trump announced that the United States would be the one blockading the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump would rather keep the worldwide economic chaos going than accept Iran’s sovereignty over the waterway. He wants people in the United States and around the globe to keep enduring spiraling inflation just to avoid the appearance of defeat. It is no longer even a byproduct of Trump’s war of aggression. High gas prices are now directly brought to you by the U.S. Navy.
Featured image: USS New York and USS Porter transit the Strait of Hormuz, 2012. Wikimedia Commons.
