US President Donald Trump may be prepared to abandon the pursuit of a formal nuclear agreement with Iran if Tehran fully reopens the Strait of Hormuz, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.
Rather than insisting on a full and final nuclear agreement, Trump’s administration could accept the restoration of shipping through the key oil chokepoint as the basis for ending its military campaign in the region and extending the existing ceasefire, the report states.
The Wall Street Journal, citing US officials, reported that Trump has spent weeks preparing the ground for such an outcome and has privately told senior aides that he could walk away without obtaining a new nuclear agreement with Tehran.
Iran has presented a long list of conditions for reopening the waterway, including billions of dollars in payments, an end to the US naval blockade, the withdrawal of American forces from the region, the lifting of sanctions and the release of frozen Iranian assets.
The demands have left Washington with fewer diplomatic options and suggest that Tehran may be preparing for a prolonged confrontation rather than a quick settlement, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The Strait of Hormuz, a narrow maritime passage between Iran and Oman, has become one of Tehran’s most powerful sources of leverage. Iran has been able to disrupt commercial traffic through missile and drone attacks, causing delays to shipping which in turn have affected global markets.
Tehran closed the waterway after the war began in February and has insisted that American warships and allied vessels should not be allowed to pass through it. At the same time, the country has also sought to collect payments from commercial vessels using the route.
Washington has rejected both the restrictions and any attempt by Iran to impose tolls, according to US officials cited by The Wall Street Journal.
Trump has repeatedly claimed recently that the strait was already fully open but those claims have repeatedly proved premature.
Petrol prices in the US remain substantially higher than before the conflict began in late February. With the US midterm elections less than three months away, Trump remains under pressure to demonstrate to American voters that the military campaign achieved its objectives.