Chaos and confusion bring US no closer to resolution on strait of Hormuz

Five months of U-turns and false boasts leave Donald Trump in worse position than when he started Donald Trump has taken the war with Iran into a new, murkier phase as the two sides move further and further from the vague memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed on 17 June. And as during the opening phase of the conflict, the US leader’s objectives and methods are clouded in confusion, daily U-turns and boasts that within hours are revealed to be false. Washington’s short-term aim is clear enough – to regain control of the strait of Hormuz from Iran – and the president seems willing to extend the bombing campaign from beyond Iran’s southern shores to achieve this. But the resumed fighting is also likely to push oil prices towards $90 a barrel, potentially taking Trump closer to defeats at the US midterm elections that could bequeath him a final two years as a lame, if angry, duck. In a sign of the strategic chaos, Trump proposed – then almost immediately abandoned – a suggestion that the US could charge tolls for clearing the strait, leaving it unclear if Washington had any vision for the future of the waterway. Many workable alternatives are available, including models based on th