An oil tanker frames an Iranian gunboat as it patrols the Strait of Hormuz. (Credit: X Screenshot)
The U.S. may wrap up fighting with Iran within weeks without requiring the reopening of a key maritime oil passage.
By World Israel News Staff
President Donald Trump has told aides he may accept a ceasefire agreement with Iran and end the fighting even if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
The Journal reported that Trump and his advisers believe a mission to reopen the strategic waterway could extend the war beyond his originally stated timeline of four to six weeks for hostilities, which have now entered their fifth week.
“He decided that the U.S. should achieve its main goals of hobbling Iran’s navy and its missile stocks and wind down current hostilities while pressuring Tehran diplomatically to resume the free flow of trade,” the Journal reported.
In recent weeks, Trump and other American officials have signaled that Washington is interested in wrapping up the conflict with Iran in the near future, emphasizing that the engagement will not become another American “forever war” in the Middle East.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio reinforced that message in an interview with Al Jazeera on Monday, saying the fighting between the U.S. and Iran will end within weeks.
“Then we’ll be confronted with this issue of the Straits of Hormuz, and it will be up to Iran to decide” to reopen the passage, Rubio said.
If not, “a coalition of nations from around the world and the region, with the participation of the United States” will ensure that the Strait is “open, one way or the other,” he added.
The Strait of Hormuz remains a critical global chokepoint for oil shipping, and its closure has already driven up energy prices worldwide. Despite signaling openness to a ceasefire, Trump has also indicated he is prepared to take further action to ensure the waterway is reopened.
Earlier in March, Trump suggested the U.S. could seize Iran’s Kharg Island — a key hub for its oil exports — to pressure Tehran into restoring maritime traffic through the Strait.
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