Peloni
Donald Trump speaking at the 2013 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland. Photo by Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America – Donald Trump, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikipedia
Marc Thiessen, fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and the former chief speechwriter for President George W. Bush, penned an important article for the Wall Street Journal in which he explains that the current U.S.–Iran standoff is at a critical breaking point. Instead of ceding further concessions to Iran, Thiessen explains that Trump should instead adopt an escalation strategy if Iran refuses to agree to U.S. terms.
Notably, Thiessen recognized that Iran interpreted Trump’s recent ceasefire extension as signaling weakness rather than leverage.
Thiessen explains that Iran is currently reeling from two points of significant pressure from the US-Israeli campaign:
- Military pressure: sustained strikes have significantly degraded Iranian offensive capabilities.
- Economic pressure: the naval blockade has severely restricted Iran’s trade through the Strait of Hormuz, which is critical for nearly all Iranian commerce and oil exports.
These factors have led to a rapidly weakening of Iran’s economy and could soon cause energy shortages, loss of oil revenue, and internal instability.
Thiessen argues that if Iran does not quickly present a “serious counteroffer” very soon, the U.S. should:
- Resume military operations after a short deadline.
- Intensify strikes, including targeting Iranian leadership who are opposed to negotiating with Iran.
- Maintain and expand the blockade.
- Seize control of key maritime routes like the Strait of Hormuz for non-Iranian shipping.
If all of this fails to bring the diplomatic surrender which Trump is expecting, he should simply destroy Iran’s critical infrastructure at Kharg Island, the central point of export of Iran’s oil exports and thereby cripple the regime’s revenue base, followed by a green light for the Iranian people to rise up and overthrow the recalcitrant regime.
To this, Trump responded on his Truth Social account, declaring “Very True!!! President DJT”
The truth is that having no deal would actually be a better deal for the US as it will not require enforcement and potentially a return to war at a later date under a leadership less inclined to provide the needed enforcement. Remove the regime now and end the game of theatrics. The logistics are in place, and regime has earned such an end as awaits them, many times over.
Source:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/04/22/trump-best-move-iran-negotiations/
The article failed to mention the effect all of this is having on China and, at the moment, the rest of the world. While I am not sure where all those fertilizers come from, my understanding was/is that they need the oil, which comes from all of the countries on the gulf. That being the case, harming Iran’s export of oil will hurt Iran but it should improve the dealings of the other gulf countries and restore the oil market a great deal. The majority of Iran’s oil has gone to China, so we are not troubled yet when their part is shortened. They get oil from Saudi Arabia too.