Negotiating With Iran Will Never Work
Trump needs to remove the IRGC from power if he wants an open Hormuz Strait.
America acted after the Islamic Republic of Iran struck three more ships Tuesday in the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Oman claiming they “ignored” its warnings about transiting the southern route, which the Joint Maritime Information Center — a multinational body overseen by the U.S. Navy — said had been “expanded and remain[ed] available for all traffic.”
One of the ships, the Qatari tanker Al Rekayyat, was carrying liquefied natural gas from Qatar and is at risk of exploding. The second and third ships — Saudi Arabia-flagged M/T Wedyan and Liberian-flagged M/T Cyprus Prosperity — reportedly sustained structural damage, but no one was injured.
Tehran has repeatedly declared only its approved route through the strait is “safe” — and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is clearly enforcing that declaration.
It was just two weeks ago that Iran attacked the Singapore cargo ship Ever Lovely, which resulted in two days of retaliatory strikes by U.S. Central Command. Iran seems to have suffered short-term memory loss — or just doesn’t respect President Trump’s threats anymore.
Iran’s joint military command warned again Thursday that all oil tankers moving through the strait must use its approved routes. It also warned that interference by U.S. forces in the strait would be met with a “rapid and decisive action.”
In the balance: A vaguely written 14-point memorandum of understanding — in this case point five — provided Iran room for interpretation and, from its perspective, administrative control over the strait and enforcement: “Upon the signing of this MoU, the Islamic Republic of Iran will make arrangements using its best efforts for the safe passage of commercial vessels.”
A pair of words at the front end of this point — “best efforts” and “safe passage” — provide Tehran significant latitude to operate, if left unchecked. And it has been.
Iran made clear Tuesday what its “best efforts” are — reminding other ships considering the Oman route that “safe passage” can only be guaranteed for ships that coordinate with Tehran; the United States can’t protect you.
Decision point: Mr. Trump directed CENTCOM to strike Iran Tuesday — hitting more than 80 targets with precision munitions. This morning the president announced, “We hit them very hard last night. Very, very hard. Probably hit them hard again tonight. I’ll give them a little warning, we’re going to hit them hard tonight.”
He also declared Wednesday the ceasefire is “over,” adding, “I don’t want to deal with them anymore. They’re scum.”
While the White House is still eager to press ahead with negotiations with Iran aimed at fully reopening the strait — keeping oil flowing — it simply cannot allow Iran to continue attacking ships transiting the strait.
Clearly Tehran — specifically the IRGC Commander Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi — did not get the previous message.
Iran must be held accountable, and last night’s strikes are a step in the right direction. But one-off strikes and measured responses, as Mr. Trump has described them, have not worked. Mr. Vahidi will just absorb them. They threaten neither him nor the regime.
Destroying power plants and bridges will not resolve the issue either — that simply punishes the Iranian people and leaves the IRGC ruling them.
And therein lies the problem. The regime remains in power. The White House needs to pull Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner from negotiations, attack Iran’s center of gravity — the IRGC — and secure the Strait of Hormuz. Take away its leverage and start dictating and enforcing conditions.
The goal can no longer be getting Iran to return to the negotiating table but to remove the IRGC-led regime from power — its unconditional surrender.
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