President Donald Trump convened his national security team to discuss the escalating standoff with Iran, with the Strait of Hormuz blockade and potential military options dominating the agenda. Nine weeks into a conflict that has rattled global energy markets and strained alliances, the meeting signals that Washington is still searching for its playbook.
The gathering comes as Iran floated a proposal to reopen the strait, offering to lift its blockade in exchange for, among other things, the right to impose tolls on ships passing through the waterway. The US dismissed the toll plan as a non-starter.
The Strait that holds the world’s energy hostage
The Strait of Hormuz is the single most important chokepoint for global oil and liquefied natural gas supply, facilitating approximately one-fifth of global oil supplies and significant LNG shipments.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has maintained its blockade of the strait as a cornerstone of the country’s deterrence strategy, insisting on control of the waterway as key to its deterrence and dismissing suggestions of lifting the blockade.
