Trump’s Strait of Hormuz Ploy Aims to Manufacture ‘Pretext for Escalation,’ Iran Warns
Article by Jake Johnson republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).
“Any American interference in the new maritime regime of the Strait of Hormuz will be considered a violation of the ceasefire,” said a member of the Iranian Parliament.
Iranian officials warned Sunday that US President Donald Trump’s newly announced plan to help “guide” stranded ships out of the Strait of Hormuz is an attempted provocation aimed at justifying additional military action against the Middle Eastern country.
An unnamed senior Iranian official told Drop Site that Trump’s plan, announced on Truth Social and confirmed by the US military, “is primarily intended to provoke Iran into taking an initial step toward confrontation, thereby creating a pretext for escalation and enabling him to justify further military action in response to an Iranian initiative.”
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The official added that “our definitive position is that any commercial vessel attempting to transit through designated restricted routes without prior coordination will be promptly intercepted by Iranian forces.”
“Should US military vessels respond, such actions would be met with an immediate and corresponding response from Iran,” the official continued. “The US military vessels are far from the corridor area. If commercial vessels attempt to move, they would be engaged well before reaching any American ships,” the official added. “Trump has effectively turned them into bargaining tools in his political game.”
Ebrahim Azizi, who heads the national security commission of the Iranian Parliament, warned in response to Trump’s plan that “any American interference in the new maritime regime of the Strait of Hormuz will be considered a violation of the ceasefire” that took effect in early April.
“The Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf would not be managed by Trump’s delusional posts,” Azizi added.
Trump wrote on his social media platform on Sunday that his administration has told countries with vessels stranded in the vital strait that “we will guide their Ships safely out of these restricted Waterways, so that they can freely and ably get on with their business.” Iran closed the strait—through which around 25% of the world’s seaborne oil trade and a third of global fertilizer trade flows each year—in response to the US-Israeli war as well as the Trump administration’s naval blockade against Iran.
The US president characterized his plan, which is titled Project Freedom and set to take effect on Monday, as a “humanitarian gesture on behalf of the United States,” but provided few details on how it would work.
US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement on Sunday that military support for Project Freedom would “include guided-missile destroyers, over 100 land and sea-based aircraft, multi-domain unmanned platforms, and 15,000 servicemembers.”
“Last week, the U.S. Department of State announced a new initiative, in partnership with the Department of War, to enhance coordination and information sharing among international partners in support of maritime security in the strait,” CENTCOM said. “The Maritime Freedom Construct aims to combine diplomatic action with military coordination, which will be critical during Project Freedom.”
Brian Finucane, senior adviser to the US Program at the International Crisis Group, wrote that CENTCOM’s statement makes the president’s plan “sound like information-sharing backed by a vague threat of military action.”
The president’s scheme drew immediate support from one of the most vocal boosters of the Iran war, US Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who said he “totally” agrees with Trump’s decision to launch Project Freedom.
“I hope this conflict can end diplomatically,” said Graham, “but it is now time to regain freedom of navigation and forcefully respond to Iran if they insist on terrorizing the world.”
Article by Jake Johnson republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).
