Negotiating with Iran is a waste of time: American calls to open the Strait of Hormuz by force
As a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives aimed at ending the war against Iran unless President Donald Trump obtained congressional authorization was canceled, calls intensified for “the use of military force to open the Strait of Hormuz if necessary.”
Former White House National Security Adviser John Bolton on Thursday urged U.S. President Donald Trump to end the ceasefire with Iran.
In an interview with Bloomberg’s Tyler Kendall, Bolton said: “I think negotiating with the Iranians is a waste of time, and I do not believe they will ever offer anything that we could consider satisfactory.”
Bolton added that Trump’s first option should be ending the ceasefire, “which has done nothing except benefit Iran” by allowing it to resume drone production and recover “many arsenals that had been buried after the first wave of attacks.”
He continued: “He is concerned about the political repercussions.” He added: “As for the second option, I believe the Strait of Hormuz should be opened by military force if necessary, in order to allow oil to leave the Gulf.”
“Strangling” Iran
He argued that reopening the strait could “strengthen the blockade” imposed by Trump in the waterway to halt Iranian oil shipments, which could “ease pressure on the global economy.”
Bolton added: “I believe the opening of the strait must be enforced and the oil must be allowed out, because that truly increases pressure on the regime in Iran to decide whether it wants to find a way out of the crisis it created itself.”
Bolton had previously criticized the ceasefire. Earlier this month, during an interview with Chris Stirewalt on NewsNation, he said that the United States “had not finished the job” by failing to achieve “the overthrow of the regime in Tehran.” He also described last month’s ceasefire as “a mistake.”
He told CNN at the time: “The country benefiting from the ceasefire is Iran. It was under heavy attack, and now it has gained two or three weeks of calm, with the possibility of more if negotiations begin.”
The fragile deadlock between the United States and Iran continues, as Trump warned Tehran that “time is running out.” He was reportedly close to launching a new series of strikes before backing down at the request of Gulf leaders.
The U.S. president said Wednesday that he was “in no rush” to reach an agreement between Iran and the United States.
The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has contributed to rising inflation and energy prices. Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, warned that fuel prices could rise next week after the Memorial Day holiday if no agreement is reached.
Cancellation of a parliamentary vote
On Thursday, Republican leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives unexpectedly canceled a vote on a resolution aimed at ending the war against Iran unless President Donald Trump received authorization from Congress, two days after a similar measure passed in the Senate.
The vote had been scheduled for late Thursday before lawmakers left Washington for an official holiday recess.
Earlier this year, the House of Representatives blocked three previous war powers resolutions in closely contested votes, with near-unanimous Republican support, underscoring the strong backing for the war against Iran and for the president within his party.
