Advisors close to Donald Trump are growing anxious about his potential loss of control over the escalating conflict with Iran, as several allied nations dismiss his proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump has urged allied nations to send warships to assist in reopening this vital oil shipping lane. However, countries like France, Japan, Australia, and the United Kingdom have shown no interest in joining Trump in safeguarding commercial vessels against Iranian threats.
Now entering its third week, the conflict has caused gas prices to surge from an average of $2.9 to $3.8 per gallon. The Strait of Hormuz, a crucial channel for one-fifth of the world’s oil supply, remains under threat from Iranian mines and missiles.
The President’s allies are increasingly worried that this intensifying confrontation has left him with limited options, potentially forcing him to deploy ground troops in a bid to secure a victory.
One insider, speaking with Politico, remarked, “We’ve clearly dominated on the battlefield, yet Iran now holds significant power.”
“They control the duration of our involvement and the possibility of ground troop deployment. It seems impossible to avoid these outcomes if we aim to maintain our standing,” the source added.
Some allies believe Trump risks being dragged into an open-ended conflict with Iran as the midterm elections approach. The escalating conflict could inflate the cost of living while voters already remain frustrated with affordability.
‘The terms have changed,’ said a second person familiar with military operations in Iran. ‘The off-ramps don’t work anymore because Iran is driving the asymmetric action.’
President Donald Trump gives remarks to the media as he signs an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC on Monday, March 16
An oil tanker burns after being hit by an Iranian strike in the ship-to-ship transfer zone at Khor al-Zubair port near Basra, Iraq, late Wednesday, March 11
The war has also caused a schism within Trump’s MAGA movement among top allies, including Tucker Carlson and Megyn Kelly.
Trump for years has argued against regime change wars in the Middle East.
US intelligence has also determined that Iran’s brutal regime will likely remain in power, despite relentless airstrike by the military.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps will likely exert greater domestic control over Iran as the country’s internal secret police.
The Israeli defence minister Israel Katz said security chief Ali Larijani and Gholamreza Soleimani, the commander of Iran’s Basij forces, have joined the late Ayatollah Khamenei in the ‘depths of hell’ following targeted overnight airstrikes.
The attack on Larijani comes four days after he marched alongside thousands of Iranians at a Quds Day rally in Tehran where he criticised Trump during a live interview.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not been seen since the war began, has said that the US and Israel must be ‘brought to their knees’ and accept defeat before any peace deal can be achieved.
Meanwhile, shipping in the Gulf and along the narrow strait, which carries around a fifth of the world’s oil, has come to a near-standstill.
The human toll comes amid mounting concerns over the financial cost, the Pentagon having burned through $5.6 billion worth of munitions in the first two days of the war
Firefighters extinguish a fire that swept through the site of an Israeli airstrike targeting Beirut’s southern suburbs, in the al-Kafaat neighborhood, on March 17
‘For the White House, now the only easy day was yesterday,’ the source familiar added. ‘They need to worry about an unraveling.’
The White House and Pentagon, however, continue to argue the war is a ‘tremendous success’ by claiming the US military has naval and aerial superiority over Iran.
Despite the success touted by the administration, the US navy is still unable to guarantee the safety of commercial oil tankers by escorting them through the Strait of Hormuz.
The US military has moved additional forces to the region, such as the warship USS Tripoli, carrying a 2,000 Marine Expeditionary Unit capable of seizing Iranian ports.
The deployment has led some to believe Trump will soon launch a limited ground offensive against the Islamic Regime to alleviate the global oil crisis.
Trump in recent days has suggested fighting with Iran could end soon, but has also warned the US is prepared for a long-term offensive.
