As war in Iran enters its third week, President Donald Trump said on Truth Social this weekend that Iran is “totally defeated and wants a deal,” and that the U.S. will join other countries to keep the Strait of Hormuz open.
“Many Countries, especially those who are affected by Iran’s attempted closure of the Hormuz Strait, will be sending War Ships, in conjunction with the United States of America, to keep the Strait open and safe,” Trump said in a Saturday Truth Social post.
While average gas prices in the U.S. were under $3 just a month ago, they’ve shot up to more than $3.67 since Trump announced that U.S. and Israel had launched airstrikes against Iran, per AAA data. Those strikes followed negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program that had disappointed the U.S. side, as well of decades of tension between the U.S. and Iran following the 1979 Islamic revolution removed a pro-U.S. government.
Strikes have stalled movement in the Strait of Hormuz, described by Patrick De Haan of GasBuddy as “probably the world’s most vital waterway when it comes to shipping crude oil,” in an interview this week with Audacy. While gas prices have already climbed higher, De Haan said Americans have not yet seen the impact of blocked travel in the strait at the gas pump.
Clarity about the Strait of Hormuz is what the oil market wants, De Haan said. He added that earlier pledges by Trump to provide safe passage likely wouldn’t be enough to entice companies with boats carrying tens of millions of dollars’ worth of oil to travel through the strait as missiles fly.
In his Saturday post, Trump said that “we have already destroyed 100% of Iran’s Military capability, but it’s easy for them to send a drone or two, drop a mine, or deliver a close range missile somewhere along, or in, this Waterway, no matter how badly defeated they are,” of the Hormuz situation. He said he’s hoping that “China, France, Japan, South Korea, the U.K., and others, that are affected by this artificial constraint, will send Ships to the area so that the Hormuz Strait will no longer be a threat by a Nation that has been totally decapitated.”
Trump said that the U.S. plans to “bomb the hell out of the shoreline” in the meantime. That means continuous shooting at Iranian boats and ships, the president explained.
“One way or the other, we will soon get the Hormuz Strait OPEN, SAFE, and FREE!” he said.
In a Friday afternoon Truth Social post, Trump also said that Iran had been “totally defeated and wants a deal - But not a deal that I would accept!”
However, the situation in the Middle East is complicated, particularly due to Iranian-backed terrorist groups operating in several countries. For example, a Saturday alert from the U.S. Embassy and Consulate in Iraq, a country bordering Iran, said that “Iran-aligned terrorist militias have encouraged and conducted indiscriminate attacks on U.S. citizens and targets associated with the United States throughout Iraq, including the Iraqi Kurdistan Region (IKR),” including the International Zone in Central Baghdad, and urged U.S. citizens to leave Iraq.
According to a report from The New York Times, Kataib Hezbollah, one of several Iran-backed militias in Iraq, claimed responsibility for an attack there on Saturday, “saying it had fired on the embassy the previous night.” Per the outlet, it showed a structure on the embassy’s roof was on fire.
“Overnight, U.S. airstrikes hit military targets on Kharg Island, home to Iran’s main oil export terminal,” The New York Times added. “President Trump threatened to bomb Iranian oil infrastructure on the Island if Tehran did not allow ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow opening to the Persian Gulf through which a fifth the world’s oil must transit.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps have so far “defied Mr. Trump’s threat,” said the Times. They reportedly said in a Saturday statement that the critical waterway was under its full control and that “any attempt to move or transit will be targeted,” and that Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, “said the Strait of Hormuz “is open” to ships that do not belong to the United States, Israel and their allies.”
Per the Times’ Saturday updates, at least 1,348 civilians in Iran have been killed since the start of the war, citing Iran’s representative to the United Nations. More than 825 people have also been killed in Lebanon, and over 2,000 others have been injured.
“The massive military strikes launched by the United States and Israel and the subsequent attacks by Iran on so many countries constitute a grave threat to international peace and security and has caused immense suffering for civilians,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres said this week. “The region is being pushed to the breaking point.”