US seeks to pass the buck on Hormuz crisis

Restoring free shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, currently blockaded by Iran, is not among American military objectives, according to statements by US officials and media reports. Instead, Washington has indicated it expects other nations to tackle the issue.

Tehran throttled maritime traffic through the key waterway in retaliation for the US-Israeli attack aimed at toppling the Iranian government, launched over a month ago. Reduced flows of hydrocarbons and other essential commodities from the Persian Gulf have pushed global prices higher, raising the risk of significant economic disruption.

In an interview with Al Jazeera on Monday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio rejected the idea that Iran would continue to take tolls from ships it allows through the strait, but said that securing free transit was not part of Washington’s war objectives. The US is focused on degrading Iranian military capabilities and is “well on our way or ahead of schedule,” Rubio claimed.

“When this operation is over, it will be open, and it will be open one way or another,” he added. Should Iran insist on its terms, “a coalition of nations from around the world and the region, with the participation of the United States, will make sure that it [the Strait of Hormuz] is open.”

The administration of President Donald Trump believes that attempts to secure the chokepoint “would push the conflict beyond his timeline of four to six weeks” and intends to “press allies in Europe and the Gulf to take the lead on reopening the strait,” the Wall Street Journal reported.

NATO’s war after all?

Previously non-involved nations have refused to deploy their militaries to help the US unblock the Strait of Hormuz. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said of Trump’s call for participation: “It is not our war; we did not start it.”

The US leader responded by threatening to call off US support of Ukraine, saying Kiev’s conflict with Russia “isn’t my war.” After taking office, Trump refused to donate weapons to Kiev, forcing European nations to pay for them, while continuing to share crucial intelligence with Ukrainian military commanders.

When asked about sentiments among European NATO members that the US is not reliable and could pull the plug on the military bloc, Rubio said being “an alliance means it has to be mutually beneficial” and not a one-way street.

US risks losing more than China in oil crisis

Rubio insisted that “very little of American energy comes through the Straits of Hormuz” and that Washington’s opposition to the Iranian claim is principled rather than pragmatic. If the precedent is set of a nation seizing an international trade route, “the Chinese could do it in the South China Sea” while the US could make claims of its own, he warned.

Washington’s assumption that, as an energy exporter, the US is largely insulated from the economic blowback of the Middle East crisis was challenged this week by Goldman Sachs. The Chinese economy “appears better positioned amid oil supply shock than its global peers,” strategist Kinger Lau wrote on Monday.

Beijing has boosted the share of non-fossil energy sources in its mix from 26% a decade ago to 40% now, the analysis said. It also possesses large strategic reserves and diversified import routes, including from Russia, Australia, and Malaysia. US economic growth could be impacted twice as much as China’s, the note predicted.