Iran’s decision to attack ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz and the U.S. decision to retaliate and threaten to abandon diplomacy have pushed both sides close to the resumption of a war that neither wants.
For the United States—which joined Israel in late February in a war to end Iran’s nuclear ambitions, among other goals—allowing Iran’s continued attacks on ships in the strait risked signaling that Tehran still holds the whip hand over one of the world’s most strategic waterways. But the resumption of large-scale military operations in an unpopular war, ahead of November’s midterm elections and with no guarantee of changing Iran’s behavior, is hardly an attractive alternative. So the Trump administration this week attempted to thread the needle: using missile and drone strikes to try to open the strait without reigniting a broader conflict.
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“The U.S. military option is what I would describe as controlled escalation, a sustained military campaign largely consisting of strikes that are focused on degrading Iran’s ability to influence the Strait of Hormuz,” JINSA Generals & Admirals Program participant GEN (ret.) Joseph Votel, who led U.S. Central Command, which is responsible for U.S. military operations in the Middle East, told us.
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