Trump’s Changing Course On Strait Of Hormuz Strategy Raises Questions About U.S. War Preparation

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — In the war with Iran, President Donald Trump searching for a solution to the crisis, he goes through an increasingly desperate list of options. Strait of Hormuz. It has jumped from calls to secure the waterway through diplomatic means to lifting sanctions and is now turning into a direct threat to civilian infrastructure in the Islamic Republic.

Trump and his allies insist they were always prepared for Iran to close the strait, but the Republican president’s erratic strategy has fueled criticism that he is seeking answers after entering the war without a clear exit plan. His last attempt took place on Saturday. ultimatum to Iran: Open the strait within 48 hours, otherwise the USA will “destroy” the country’s power plants.

Trump aides argued that the threat was a harsh tactic to force Iran to surrender. Opponents framed it as the failings of a president who miscalculated what it would take to get out of a geopolitical quagmire.

“Trump has no plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, so he’s threatening to attack Iran’s civilian power plants,” said Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass. “That would be a war crime.”

Responding to Trump’s post, Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said: “He has lost control of the war and is panicking.”

Over the course of nearly a week, Trump repeatedly changed his approach to the waterway vital to global oil and gas transportation. There is increasing urgency for Trump rising oil prices is rattling global markets and squeezing American consumers months before key midterm elections.

Trump attempted and called for a diplomatic solution last weekend. new international coalition Sending warships to the Bosphorus.

The Allies turned him down. Trump later said the US could manage on one’s own. On Friday, he suggested other countries do the same. I have to take over While the US looks for an exit. Hours later, he stated, the waterway would somehow “open up on its own.”

“You can’t just create the event and expect other people to get it and then just walk away,” Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., told ABC’s “This Week.”

Trump’s Treasury Department on Friday made its latest attempt to deal with rising gas prices by lifting sanctions on some Iranian oil for the first time in decades. This has relieved some of the pressure Washington has traditionally used as leverage against Tehran.

The goal was to send millions more barrels of oil to the global market. But it’s unclear how much impact this would have in lowering pump prices or how the administration could prevent Iran from making money from renewed sales.

The administration had previously temporarily lifted sanctions on some Russian oil.

The ultimatum, delivered by Trump while he was spending the weekend in Florida, carries a significant threat of aggression. His previous messages had mostly focused on U.S. success in striking Iran’s air force, navy and missile production. This time, the target threatened is the energy infrastructure that powers hospitals, homes and more.

Geoffrey Corn, a professor of military law at Texas Tech University and a retired lieutenant colonel who served as a military lawyer for the Army, said the social media post — 51 words, mostly in capital letters — did not have the appearance of a message that had undergone the careful legal scrutiny needed to justify an attack on civilian infrastructure.

“There’s definitely a sense of readiness, shooting, aiming,” Corn said of Trump’s movement strategy.

“He overestimated his ability to control events when he unleashed this torrent of violence.”

Such widespread attacks would likely be a war crime, Corn said. He said it could force military leaders to choose between complying with an order to commit a war crime or refusing and facing criminal sanctions for willful disobedience.

Laws governing war do not explicitly prohibit attacks on power plants, but the tactic is permitted only if an analysis shows the military advantages outweigh the harm to civilians, legal experts say. This is seen as a high bar to clear because the rules of war are essentially designed to separate civilian and military targets.

Iran’s ambassador to the UN warned in a letter to the Security Council that the deliberate targeting of power plants would be indiscriminate in nature and a war crime, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.

The White House had already faced intense backlash after the US was accused of a missile attack. Iranian primary school It killed more than 165 people.

Trump gave little detail about which plants might be targeted and how. He gave Iran until Monday to reopen the strait, otherwise the US will “Hit various POWER PLANTS, STARTING WITH THE LARGEST FIRST!”

Trump’s team came to Trump’s defense on Sunday, citing justification for attacking Iran’s energy grid.

US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz said Iran’s Revolutionary Guard controls much of the country’s infrastructure and uses it to power the war effort. Potential targets include “gas-fired thermal power plants and other types of power plants,” he said.

Speaking to Fox News, Waltz said he wanted to prevent the “handshake” of the global community by describing the Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization. “The president is not kidding,” he said.

NATO secretary general Mark Rutte, who has formed a close alliance with Trump, tried to calm tensions. He said he understood Trump’s anger and stressed that more than 20 countries are “coming together to implement his vision” of making the strait navigable as soon as possible.

Israeli Ambassador to Washington Yechiel Leiter warned against the kind of all-out attack Trump is threatening. “We want to leave things in the country as they are, so that the people who come after this regime can rebuild and recover,” he told CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Trump’s threat could backfire: Iranian leaders say they would totally do it if it happens close throat and retaliate against US and Israeli infrastructure.

Associated Press writer Seung Min Kim in Washington contributed to this report.