The United States and its allies need to take control of the Strait of Hormuz in order to win the war against Iran, while some ground troops will be necessary to gain control of its highly enriched nuclear uranium, a former White House Middle East envoy said Wednesday.
The comments come as the Islamic Republic has hardened its position over the crucial waterway, where 20% of all traded oil and natural gas is transported in peacetime, and as the U.S. is sending more troops to the Middle East amid a diplomatic push for a ceasefire.
“One way or the other, the U.S. and its allies have to take some sort of control of the Strait of Hormuz to make sure this never happens again…and to ensure that Iran can no longer put the world in danger the way it has done so far,” Jason Greenblatt said in a video briefing to the Jerusalem Press Club.
He noted that Iran is acting “uber-aggressive” in response to this week’s diplomatic overtures, and is making ludicrous demands of tolls and reparations, which, he said, the president will never accept.
The secretary-general of a bloc of Gulf Arab countries said Thursday that Iran is charging fees for ships to safely transit the Strait of Hormuz.
‘Boots on the ground’
In the briefing, Greenblatt, who served during the first Trump administration, said that despite widespread American public opposition, he believed some ground troops would be required to secure highly enriched uranium short of an unlikely deal, which, he said, Iran is showing no signs of making.
“I know people are against boots on the ground, but I don’t see how you can get that [nuclear material] if there is no deal without some sort of special force operation going to retrieve that nuclear material,” he said.
At the same time, Greenblatt conceded that regime change was neither a “primary goal” nor “the most important goal” in the war, but that it could be an outcome of the war.
“Regime change has to come from within,” he said. “If we try to enforce regime change, it won’t be successful.”
Expansion of Abraham Accords
The former envoy, who was involved in the landmark 2020 Abraham Accords, which saw four Arab nations make peace with Israel, said that the war against Iran will inevitably drive the Gulf countries closer to Israel, with some kind of similar peace accord in the offing.
“The Gulf countries recognize one way or the other that the Iranian regime has to be finished or it will remain a long-term threat to everything they are trying to do,” he said.
”They recognize that Israel is a partner and that some formula of the Abraham Accords benefits everybody.”
He noted that Iran’s aim to prevent the expansion of the Abraham Accords to include Saudi Arabia, with the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led assault on southern Israel, which killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the single worst attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust, has completely backfired.
“The conflict is driving Middle East allies closer to Israel, even if it is not a full-blown Abraham Accords,” he said.
At the same time, Greenblatt voiced pessimism over the future of Lebanon since it is unwilling to confront Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Lebanese terror proxy, which is again raining hundreds of rockets on northern Israel.
“Hezbollah has absolutely destroyed and decimated Lebanon,” he said. “But Lebanon is unable or seemingly unwilling to step out to fight and disarm Hezbollah and wants to leave it to Israel.”
Greenblatt said that he long sensed that the Islamic Republic, which he called “a murderous theocracy-driven regime,” never wanted to make a deal with Trump and was simply playing for time, mistakenly hoping to live out the remainder of his two and a half years in office.
“Trump is a unique president,” he said. “He not only knows the difference between good and evil, but he is actually willing to act on it.”
