President Donald Trump has shown significant restraint with Iran, considering the regime’s ludicrous demands and constant stalling and delays. More than a month into a fragile cease-fire, however, he appears close to a breaking point.
On Monday, the frustrated president said talks with Iran were on “massive life-support” and called Iranian demands “garbage.” Mr. Trump has given Iran every opportunity to avoid the destruction imminent in any additional U.S. military action. But the mullahs continue to play games in an effort to buy time.
Iran’s “peace” proposal, among other things, does nothing to limit the nation’s nuclear ambitions, insists on long-term control over the Strait of Hormuz, seeks U.S. reparations and would empower Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon. Iran also demands that the United States end its blockade against Iranian ports and unfreeze billions in Iranian assets. Mr. Trump properly dismissed the offer as “unacceptable.”
Mr. Trump has plenty of incentive to remain firm. While some leaked news reports posit that the American blockade won’t cause significant damage on Iran for months, an intelligence official told The Washington Post that the naval action is already “inflicting real, compounding damage — severing trade, crushing revenue and accelerating systemic economic collapse.” During the first few weeks of the blockade, U.S. Central Command reports, the United States has intercepted at least 70 vessels heading to or from Iran.
In addition, the blockade has disrupted the ability of Iran to profit off oil exports, its main source of revenue. And as the weeks go by, further problems mount for the regime. “If the country cannot shift the millions of barrels of oil it produces daily,” CNN reported, “it could be forced to cut production. … Iran could probably sustain current oil production for another two to three months before storage issues become ‘a significant consideration,’” one source told the cable network. Shutting down production can harm infrastructure.
Iranian leadership — whoever they are; the country’s new supreme leader remains in hiding — have embraced the risky gamble that Mr. Trump won’t have the patience to follow the conflict to its inevitable conclusion. But the president understands the situation. “They think I’ll get tired, or get bored, or I’ll have some pressure,” he told reporters Monday. “There’s no pressure at all. We’re going to have a complete victory.”
The United States — indeed, the world — can’t allow one of the foremost exporters of terror to erect a toll booth in one of the globe’s most important shipping corridors. Neither can it tolerate a nuclear Iran, a position embraced by every administration, Republican or Democrat, dating back decades. Mr. Trump’s resolve is welcome.
