US President Donald Trump has instructed his advisers to prepare for a prolonged blockade of Iran, US officials told the newspaper. The Wall Street Journal. Their goal is to hit the regime’s finances, in a high-risk attempt to force a nuclear capitulation that Tehran has repeatedly refused.
In recent meetings, including a discussion Monday in the White House Crisis Room, Trump chose to continue putting pressure on the Iranian economy and oil exports by preventing shipping to and from its ports. He considered his other options – resuming bombing, going all-in with a ground offensive or withdrawing from the conflict – to carry more risks than maintaining the blockade, officials said.
An official quoted by the newspaper stated that the blockade has devastated the Iranian economy and prevents it from storing oil adequately. “The president will only accept an agreement that protects our country’s national security,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said in a statement.
He added that Operation Epic Fury has already met all of Trump’s military objectives and that, “thanks to the successful blockade of Iranian ports, the United States has maximum influence over the regime.”
Trump has refrained from ordering new attacks since a ceasefire was reached on April 7, although gasoline prices remain high and his popularity continues to decline.
Stalled negotiation
The truth is that efforts to end the conflict remain stalled, since Trump was dissatisfied with Tehran’s latest proposal, which, according to him, had informed the US that Iran was in a “state of collapse” and trying to define its leadership situation.
The theocratic regime’s most recent offer to resolve the two-month war would postpone discussion of its nuclear program until the conflict ends and maritime disputes are resolved. But Trump wants nuclear issues addressed from the beginning, according to a U.S. official briefed on Trump’s Monday meeting with his advisers.
In a post on Truth Social on Tuesday, Trump said: “Iran just informed us that it is in a state of collapse. They want us to open the Strait of Hormuz as soon as possible, while they try to define their leadership situation (which I believe they will achieve!).” It was not clear from his post how Iran could have communicated that message, and Tehran did not immediately respond to the tycoon’s latest comments.
Earlier, an Iranian military spokesman told state media that the Islamic Republic did not consider the war over.
Since the start of the war on February 28, Iran has blocked virtually all maritime traffic, except its own, from the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic point for global energy supplies. This month, the United States began blocking Iranian ships.
The leadership problem
Hopes of reviving peace efforts in a conflict that has killed thousands, plunged energy markets into uncertainty and disrupted global trade routes have faded since Trump last weekend canceled the visit of his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to mediator Pakistan.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi traveled to Islamabad twice over the weekend.
Following the deaths of several high-ranking Iranian political and military figures in joint attacks between the United States and Israel, Iran no longer has a single undisputed clerical leader at the pinnacle of power, which could be hardening Tehran’s negotiating stance.
According to Iranian officials and analysts, the assassination of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on the first day of the war and the appointment of his wounded son, Mojtaba, as his successor to lead the country, has given greater power to the most intransigent commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Senior Iranian officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that the proposal Araqchi brought to Islamabad over the weekend called for staged talks.
A first step would require ending the war and offering guarantees that the United States cannot restart it. Negotiators would then resolve the US naval blockade of Iranian maritime trade and the future of the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran seeks to reopen under its control.
Only then would other issues be addressed, including the long-standing dispute over Iran’s nuclear program, as Iran seeks US recognition of its right to enrich uranium.
This would evoke the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran, the United States and other powers, which had sharply reduced Tehran’s nuclear program.
Trump unilaterally withdrew from that agreement during his first term in 2018. He now faces domestic pressure to end a war for which he has offered the American public contradictory justifications.
Popularity on the decline…
Trump’s approval rating has fallen to the lowest level of his current term, as Americans grow increasingly dissatisfied with his management of the cost of living and the unpopular war, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll. The survey showed that 34% of Americans approve of Trump’s performance, a decrease from 36% in the previous survey.
In a new sign of tensions between Trump and his European allies, he claimed in a social media post that German Chancellor Friedrich Merz “doesn’t know what he’s talking about” regarding Iran.
Merz declared on Monday that the Iranian leadership was humiliating the United States and did not understand the exit strategy followed by the Trump administration.
However, Britain’s King Charles told the US Congress on Tuesday that despite uncertainty and conflict in Europe and the Middle East, the United Kingdom and the United States, “whatever our differences,” will always be strong allies, united in the defense of democracy. His statements came at a time of deep divisions between both historical partners as a result of the war with Iran.
…and oil on the rise
With the warring parties still apparently estranged, oil prices resumed their upward trend. Brent crude oil LCOc1 rose almost 3%, reaching $111 per barrel. O/R
The World Bank forecast that energy prices would soar 24% in 2026, reaching their highest level since Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine four years ago, if the most serious disruptions caused by the war with Iran end in May.
The United Arab Emirates announced its departure from OPEC and OPEC+, evidencing the discord among Gulf nations regarding Iran.
At least six tankers loaded with Iranian oil have been forced to return to Iran due to the US blockade in recent days, according to ship tracking data, underscoring the impact of the war on maritime traffic.
