Mahtab M

Counter-terror police believe the IRGC is directing attacks using disposable young criminals. This is why arresting the foot soldiers will not be enough. The Iranian embassy must be closed and every agent of this murderous regime on British soil expelled. #ProscribeIRGC

The Trump administration is seeking the participation of other countries to form an international coalition to restore freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. This comes after earlier reports that Trump is eyeing an “extended blockade of #Iran,” and after he said that such a blockade “is somewhat more effective than bombing.” Together, these reports indicate that Trump is still adhering to his approach of “coercive diplomacy,” hoping that what he could not achieve through extensive bombing might instead be achieved through a prolonged blockade. In this sense, the search for partners to reopen the strait is yet another – and perhaps the clearest – indication that he is not interested in the Iranian offer to reopen Hormuz in exchange for lifting the blockade and initiating phased negotiations. The problem with this approach, as I have indicated before, is that the blockade is increasingly seen in Tehran not as an alternative to war but as another form of it. It may therefore be only a matter of time before Iranian decision-makers conclude that a resumption of war would be less costly than living under an extended blockade. In this situation, an attempt to militarily reopen the strait would likely accelerate that process. In the meantime, threats of a potential closure of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait as a second pressure point are being made not only by the media but also by officials – including senior MPs. The war that began on February 28 was based on a miscalculation of Iran’s capacity and willingness to escalate. All indications suggest that the same miscalculations may now lead to a resumption of the war. wsj.com/world/as-hormu…