SOURCE :- THE AGE NEWS
Washington: The Trump administration is putting the world on notice that it is prepared to exit its war against Iran without a clear resolution in the Strait of Hormuz, leaving other countries to escort oil tankers or force the crucial shipping passage open.
President Donald Trump is due to address the US and the world live on Wednesday night (Thursday morning AEDT) about the war in Iran, after saying the military operation would end “very soon” or within about two to three weeks.
Over the past 48 hours, the White House and other parts of the US government have clarified that reopening the strait is not considered a core objective of the Iran mission, despite the vast economic impact of the waterway’s effective closure.
Trump and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth played down the strait’s importance to the US, even as the average price of petrol reached $US4 a gallon ($5.80 for 3.7 litres) for the first time since the summer of 2022.
The president said prices would fall again as soon as the war ended, which would be “very soon”. He argued Tehran would not continue to meaningfully block the waterway once the war ended, and asserted the threat posed by mines in the strait or small missiles being fired at passing ships was negligible.
“I think it’ll be very safe, actually – but we have nothing to do with that. What happens in the strait, we’re not going to have anything to do with,” Trump said in the Oval Office.
“If France or some other country wants to get oil or gas, they’ll go up through the strait … they’ll be able to fend for themselves. That’s not for us. That’ll be for France. That’ll be for whoever’s using the strait.
“China will go up and they’ll fuel up their beautiful ships and they’ll leave and they’ll take care of themselves. There’s no reason for us to do it.”
Trump’s remarks followed an incendiary social media post in which he said other countries should “go get your own oil”. The president suggested they buy the oil from the US or “build up some delayed courage” and seize it militarily from the Strait of Hormuz.
“You’ll have to start learning how to fight for yourself – the USA won’t be there to help you any more, just like you weren’t there for us,” Trump posted.
At a Pentagon briefing, Hegseth echoed that sentiment, noting the US was less dependent on oil imports from the Middle East than other countries, and arguing it had done the preparatory work by destroying Iran’s navy.
US Central Command says it has sunk or destroyed more than 140 Iranian vessels since Operation Epic Fury began more than four weeks ago, and hit more than 11,000 Iranian targets.
Hegseth said other nations ought to heed Trump’s words about fending for themselves: “It’s something some of us have been saying for quite some time. You can’t just have flags, you have to have formations.”
Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal reported Trump had told aides he was willing to end the military operation even if the strait remained largely closed.
The Journal said Trump and his team were leaning away from a ground-based campaign that would prolong the war beyond six weeks, and preferred trying to convince Tehran diplomatically to end its blockade of the strait.
Asked whether Trump would declare victory if his core objectives were achieved but the strait remained blocked or slow, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the reopening of the waterway was “something the administration is working towards”, but it sat outside the core objectives.
In an interview with Al Jazeera, Secretary of State Marco Rubio indicated the US would assist to a degree, but Washington expected other countries to participate in efforts to reopen the strait.
Rubio said the US would achieve its military objectives “in weeks, not months”, and would then be confronted with the Strait of Hormuz issue.
“It’ll be up to Iran to decide,” he said. “If they choose to try to block the straits, then they will have to face real consequences, not just from the United States but from regional countries and from the world.”
Iran is allowing some ships through the strait to China and other friendly countries, while Trump announced Tehran had agreed to let up to 30 Pakistani-flagged shipments through as a goodwill gesture during talks.
Australia has joined a statement signed by 35 countries expressing readiness to contribute to “appropriate efforts” to ensure safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, without providing details of what that entailed.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has also called for the war to end, saying the US has achieved its objectives and should now recognise the economic damage the conflict is inflicting on the world.
While Trump downplayed the impact of higher fuel prices on the US, the news of a gallon of unleaded costing $US4 marked the passing of a symbolic threshold for consumer pain.
The occasion was seized upon by the Iranian regime. Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of the Iranian parliament with whom the US is dealing, posted a link to a CNN article about the rising cost of petrol.
“I just read about Sarah and others in the US skipping meals because gas prices keep climbing,” he wrote. “Sad, but this is what happens when your leaders put others ahead of hard-working and ordinary Americans. It’s not America First anymore … it’s Israel First.”
This coincided with a new Economist/Yougov poll that found Trump’s approval rating fell to 35 per cent, with a disapproval rating of 58 per cent. That made for the lowest net approval rating (-23 percentage points) Trump has received in a Yougov poll in either of his first or second terms.
Meanwhile, Pakistan – a key mediator between the US and Iran – and China released a five-point peace strategy following talks between Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Beijing.
The communique called for an immediate ceasefire and the start of peace talks, as well as securing the Strait of Hormuz and re-establishing safe passage as soon as possible. The document did not mention the US or Israel.
A White House official said the US was in serious discussions with people they described as “the new leaders of Iran”, and touted “great progress” in those talks.
“The president is confident that a deal will be reached soon, and has been clear about the consequences if one is not,” the official told this masthead on condition of anonymity.
“We are talking to ‘the right people’ within the regime, and they want to make a deal very badly. These are sensitive diplomatic discussions and the United States will not negotiate through the news media.”
Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What in the World newsletter.
Michael Koziol is the North America correspondent for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald. He is a former Sydney editor, Sun-Herald deputy editor and a federal political reporter in Canberra.Connect via X or email.
