WASHINGTON—President Trump and top aides spent the weekend touting his Iran campaign as a resounding military success. pleading with other countries To join their effort to resolve the worsening energy crisis related to the Strait of Hormuz.
US officials said the Trump administration plans to announce as soon as this week that several countries have agreed to form a coalition that would divert ships through the waterway that runs along the Iranian coast. The US and potential coalition countries are still discussing whether these operations will begin before or after the war ends.
The White House declined to comment on the expected announcement, which could change depending on battlefield conditions. Publicly, many countries have not committed to such escort missions until hostilities end, given the risks, including Iran placing mines in the strait.
The pressure on the White House to announce such a coalition underscores the dilemma facing the administration. Gasoline prices continue to rise and questions are being raised from within the Republican Party about the end game. The military operation has resulted in strikes against more than 6,000 Iranian targets Iran’s supreme leader assassinated and other top government officials. But strategic problems – growing instability in the Middle East, the global energy crisis and domestic political fallout – have proven difficult to manage through bombing alone.
In a joint statement Sunday, the UK foreign ministers and Gulf Cooperation Council members said GCC states “have the right to take all necessary measures to protect their security and stability and to protect their territories, citizens and residents.”
The weekend rhetoric from Trump, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz came as the Iran operation entered its third week. Wright said Sunday that he believed the war would end in a few weeks, leading him to expect oil and gas prices to fall.
Meanwhile, Trump said the US planned to bomb the Iranian coastline along the strait. Last week, the President said the US had won the war to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.
average us gas price It was $3.70 a gallon on Sunday, up 26% from $2.93 a month earlier, according to AAA. The price of diesel has increased 36% in that period, from $3.66 to $4.97.
A top Iranian official said his country would continue to retaliate and suggested that hostilities would continue. “We never asked for a ceasefire, and we never asked for negotiations. We are ready to defend ourselves as long as necessary,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on the CBS News program “Face the Nation” on Sunday. After failed talks with the US, “We don’t see any reason why we should talk with the Americans.”
Trump claims that despite initial stiff resistance, Iran will crack under severe military pressure as its weapons capabilities are sharpened.
But Susan Maloney, an Iran expert and foreign-policy vice president at the Brookings Institution think tank, said Trump won’t soon get the full commitment he wants.
“There is a vast gap between US and Israeli operational achievements and the devastating consequences for the global economy and broader US national-security interests,” he said. The White House could sell Iran’s significant military and nuclear losses as a victory, “but if it comes at the cost of a major recession, it won’t mean much to Republicans in the midterms, and the Iranians are hoping to outmaneuver the U.S.”
Kevin Hassett, director of the White House National Economic Council, said the administration took into account energy and economic disruptions in its decision to attack Iran. “If Iran thinks they’re going to force President Trump to back down because they undermine our economy, they don’t understand economics,” he said Sunday on Fox News.
At this point, some US officials and analysts say, Trump has three imperfect options.
That could end the U.S. role in the war, preventing a broader conflict but emboldening a fundamentalist Iranian regime that would claim victory and try to rebuild its arsenal. The President could continue the war, destroying Iran further, but risking the number of US troops killed rising to 13 due to rising energy prices. Or the US and Israel could stop bombing now but plan to resume military strikes against Iran every year to keep it weak – a perpetual cycle of perpetual war.
Which path Trump chooses depends on what his objectives really are. Over two weeks of war, Explanation involves regime change and completely weakened Iran’s military power, and the withdrawal timeline extended from a few days to anytime Trump feels it in his “bones.” The White House has denied that Trump’s motives have changed.
Trump has called for the destruction of Iran’s army nuclear capabilitiesas well as a pliable Tehran that meets Washington’s demands, similar to Venezuela’s stance toward the US following the operation to capture Nicolás Maduro.
That’s unlikely to happen without regime change, said Nicole Grajewski, an expert on Iranian strategy at Sciences Po in Paris. “I don’t think the Iranians have ever surrendered unconditionally,” he said, adding that the last time Tehran did so was in a treaty with the Russian Empire in the 1800s, when it ceded territory in the Caucasus. “They still complain about it on talk shows.”
“Restoring trade shipments through the Strait of Hormuz will be a focus of our military going forward,” Energy Secretary Wright said on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” on Sunday.
The White House said more than 65 Iranian naval vessels were seriously damaged, destroyed or sunk, including four Suleimani-class ships, more than 30 minelayers and a drone carrier. The US military launched a massive unilateral attack on a drone factory after Tehran’s missile and air-defense capabilities were weakened while warplanes were flying deep into Iranian territory.
“This is a major victory, the likes of which we have not seen in modern American military history,” Waltz told CNN on Sunday. “The U.S. military will continue to attack Iranian forces and their missile, boat, and drone forces to keep the strait open.”
The administration has published a large stream of videos on social media showing war footage, including imagery from pop-culture media such as the videogame franchise “Call of Duty.” A White House official said those who criticized the video for being insensitive or promoting war are against America’s mission.
But not everyone in the White House supports this approach.
“This is a good time to declare victory and get out,” tech investor David Sachs, Trump’s adviser on artificial intelligence, said on his “All In” podcast. He urged Trump to ignore “the neoconservative wing of the party” and follow his political instincts to avoid protracted conflict. “Finish this thing.”
Sachs said escalating the conflict through attacks on oil and gas infrastructure could lead to “catastrophic” consequences, including nuclear war. “If escalating tensions doesn’t help, then you have to think about how do you de-escalate? And de-escalation, I think, includes reaching some kind of cease-fire agreement, or some kind of negotiated agreement, with Iran.”
Trump has called on other countries that depend on safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz to assist in the transit of about 20% of the world’s oil, which allies are considering, even though Trump has targeted them with tariffs and those countries largely oppose war. Sachs on X called this a “smart strategy”.
Others are pushing for continued US military involvement. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who encouraged Trump The US praised the US operation on Saturday against Kharg Island, Iran’s main oil export terminal, to start the war. Graham wrote “Semper Fi”-motto US Marine Corps on social media.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recently approved a request to relocate US Central Command, responsible for US forces in the Middle East a marine expeditionThe Wall Street Journal, among others, previously reported for the region.
Neither Hegseth nor anyone else in the administration has disclosed what the group’s mission will be.
Write to Alexander Ward alex.ward@wsj.comon lindsay ellis lindsay.elis@wsj.com And on Robbie Grammer robbie.gramer@wsj.com
