Trump Escalates Military Threats in Hormuz as Iran Prepares for New Round of U.S.-Israeli Bombings and Assassinations

Iran believes Trump is likely to resume the war in failed quest to declare victory, a senior Iranian official told Drop Site

By Jeremy Scahill, Drop Site News

President Donald Trump is scrambling to find a way to declare victory in the war against Iran—vacillating between public demands to make a deal and threats to unleash a new round of massive bombing. The U.S. naval blockade on the Strait of Hormuz has sparked a global economic and energy crisis, and neither the blockade nor Trump’s threats have resulted in Iranian capitulation or a willingness to forfeit any of its rights to control maritime traffic in the Strait.

A senior Iranian official told Drop Site that while Iran is actively engaged in indirect diplomacy with the U.S. via mediators, it has no intention of participating in direct talks until the U.S. blockade is unconditionally lifted.

“Based on current assessments, another military attack seems likely. [Trump’s] goals from the naval blockade haven’t been achieved,” the official said. “He can’t keep the blockade going for much longer. We think the U.S. will focus on Hormuz, so military attacks and operations will likely expand along Iran’s coastline, along with a new wave of assassinations [against Iranian leaders] they may pursue jointly with Israel.”

The official, who requested anonymity because he is not authorized to publicly comment, has direct knowledge of internal deliberations in Tehran. Trump, he argued, has limited options to find an off-ramp from his increasingly unpopular war.

“We have succeeded, through the sustained management of the Strait of Hormuz under our control, in effectively transforming the unilateral pressure imposed by the Americans into a reciprocal one. As time progresses, the restrictions imposed on this strategic chokepoint will generate increasingly widespread consequences for various goods and commodities worldwide,” he said. “The United States has, in practice, positioned itself as a destabilizing force for the global economy particularly in the energy sector. This development, from a strategic perspective, works clearly and substantially to Iran’s advantage.”