Trump tells aides he is willing to end Iran war without reopening Straif of Hormuz: Report

US President Donald Trump told his aides he is willing to end the military campaign against Iran even if the Strait of Hormuz remains largely closed and leave a complex operation to reopen it for a later date, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing administration officials.

Trump and his aides have assessed that a mission to open the strait would push the conflict beyond its timeline of four-to-six weeks, according to WSJ.

“He decided that the US 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 report said adding-citing the officials- that there are military options that Trump could decide on, “but they are not his immediate priority.”

The Strait of Hormuz is a waterway vital to oil and gas shipments.

Iranian state media reported Monday that a parliamentary commission had approved plans to impose tolls on vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

Citing a member of the parliament’s security commission, state TV said the plan involved, among other things, “financial arrangements and rial toll systems” and “implementing the sovereign role of Iran.”

It also included the “prohibition of Americans and the Zionist regime from passing through,” as well as a ban on other countries imposing sanctions on Iran.

Around a fifth of global crude oil and liquefied natural gas passes through the Strait of Hormuz in peacetime.

Since the war began, crossings have plummeted by around 95 percent, according to maritime intelligence firm Kpler, with the impact felt across global energy markets.