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.
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.
President Donald Trump and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth also played down the strait’s usefulness to the US, even as the average price of petrol reached $US4 a gallon on Tuesday for the first time since the summer of 2022, driven by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“This is an international waterway that we use less than most,” Hegseth said. “It’s not just our problem set going forward, even though we have done the lion’s share of the preparation … The world ought [to] pay attention and be prepared to step up.”
His remarks followed an incendiary social media post in which Trump 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 said.
Hegseth said other nations should heed the president’s words. “It’s something some of us have been saying for quite some time. You can’t just have flags, you have to have formations.”
The comments followed a report in The Wall Street Journal that said Trump had told aides he is willing to end the military operation even if the Strait remains 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 on the Strait.
Asked whether the president would declare victory if his core objectives were achieved but traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remained blocked or slow, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the reopening of the strait 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 affirmed that 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.”
Australia has joined to 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 in the US, the average price of basic unleaded petrol rose above $US4 a gallon for the first time since 2022, passing 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 communiqué 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 said, 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.”
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