Ex-Royal Navy Officer Pours Cold Water On Trump's Attempt To Force Strait Of Hormuz Open

Donald Trump’s attempts to force Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz will fall flat, according to a former Royal Navy officer.

The US president warned overnight that if a deal is not reached soon and the major oil shipping lane is not immediately “open for business”, he would start “obliterating” Iran’s electricity plants, oil wells and major oil hub, Kharg Island.

The Strait transports a fifth of the world’s oil supply and international markets have been reeling ever since Iran effectively closed the waterway in retaliation to US-Israel strikes.

Trump is increasingly desperate to reopen the strait as the economic shock starts to be felt around the world.

But Tom Sharpe, who served in the Navy for over 25 years, said it would not be possible to open the Strait of Hormuz by force.

“The Houthis proved that over an 18-month period, and that’s a much lower, much more simple threat,” Sharpe told BBC Radio 4′s Today programme, referring the militant attacks on merchant vessels in the Red Sea back in 2024.

“In the end we ended up on an uneasy compromise where we could just about protect ourselves.

“I think what Iran has shown so far in this conflict is that it is much harder [to do that] over the Strait of Hormuz.

“There are more threats to the air surface and sub-surface domain.

“Unless they agree to stop shooting, or are told to stop shooting, those are two other options – then I think the third option, the least good option, is the military one – where we make them stop. That’s unlikely to work.”

He continued: “Iran has control of this situation, I think that much is clear, and I think they will continue to do so going forward.

“Right now, they’re achieving their own stakes – I’m not saying they’re winning, but they’re achieving their own stakes; control of the Strait, control of the economy to an extent and regime survival.

“It’s not in their interests right now to change this.”

Sharpe also questioned Trump’s previous calls for a naval coalition to deploy warships to the strait to force it open.

He said: “Either there’s a threat like now, in which case it’s not safe to go in, or there isn’t a threat, in which case, why do we need a large group of coalition ships to escort those ships through?”

“I think this really comes down to Iran and what they choose to do in the next weeks and months,” the military specialist said.

Listen to HuffPost UK’s Commons People, the podcast which makes politics easy, to understand why the Iran war is such a big deal.