U.S. President Donald Trump has warned Iran that it "better stop¡± any effort to charge fees on ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz, after agreeing to open the critical waterway as part of a ceasefire agreement earlier this week.
But for weeks, U.S. allies, military analysts, and skeptics of the president¡¯s strategy have been asking how Iran was allowed to seize and maintain control of the passage in the first place ¡ª and why, given the might of the U.S. military, the Trump administration didn¡¯t reopen the strait by force.
Those questions will loom large in negotiations for a long-term peace deal, set to begin Saturday in Islamabad, where control of the passage remains Iran¡¯s strongest point of leverage. They will also test a president attuned to voters¡¯ economic sensitivities and dimming appetite for foreign entanglements that risk American lives.
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