Donald Trump has said he is willing to end the US military campaign in Iran even if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, according to a report, leaving Tehran in control of the vital shipping lane and prolonging economic chaos.
The US president told aides that a mission to forcibly reopen the strait would push the war beyond his timeline of four to six weeks, according to administration officials who spoke to the Wall Street Journal.
Instead he has reportedly decided to focus on his goal of dismantling Iran’s navy and missile stocks, while using diplomatic pressure on Tehran to try to resume the flow of trade, before concluding the conflict.
If this fails, then Trump would get his allies in Europe and the Gulf – countries that rely on the maritime passage for imports and exports – to front the operation to pry it open.
It comes as Iran struck a fully loaded Kuwaiti oil tanker in the Persian Gulf, while the US military bombed targets in Isfahan. The city in central Iran is home to one of three sites which were attacked by Washington in June 2025 and some of Iran’s highly enriched uranium is likely stored or buried or there.
The Strait of Hormuz has become Iran’s biggest pressure point in the war, with the regime imposing a de facto blockade on the waterway, upending global oil and gas supplies which have caused energy prices to surge. The Islamic Republic has allowed some ships to pass through in a “tollbooth” system, where vessels pay as much as $2 million per voyage or according to particular political and financial conditions.
The prolonged closure of the chokepoint threatens to extend disruption to the world’s energy supplies, with the prices per barrel of oil continuing to rise above $100 – the first time since 2022.
Over the past month, Trump has made conflicting statements on his intentions in Iran. At times he has threatened to bomb the country’s energy infrastructure or seize its main oil terminal on Kharg island, but also appeared to downplay the Strait of Hormuz’s importance, saying it is up to other countries to reopen.
Over the weekend, the USS Tripoli and the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit entered the region, while thousands of soldiers from the US army’s elite 82nd Airborne Division have also arrived in the Middle East.
Reuters reported that no decision has been made for American boots on the ground in Iran, but that they are there for any potential future operations.
On Monday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that the US was “working towards” normal operations in the strait, but didn’t include it among their main military objectives.
Other administration officials have also appeared to show no urgency for immediately reopening the waterway. In an interview on Fox News on Monday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggested that eventually the US or other countries would provide escorts for ships.
“The market is well-supplied, and we are seeing more and more ships go through on a daily basis as individual countries cut deals with the Iranian regime for the time being,” he said. “But over time, the US is going to retake control of the straits, and there will be freedom of navigation, whether it is through US escorts or a multinational escort.”
Earlier this month, a group of countries including the UK, France, and Germany issued a joint statement expressing their “readiness to contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through the [Hormuz] Strait.”
