President Donald Trump‘s former Counterterrorism Chief Joe Kent has reaffirmed his stance that the U.S. should exit the Strait of Hormuz and claim victory in the Iran war.
Leaving the Region Works in the US’ Favor, Joe Kent Says
In a post on X on Thursday, Kent said that Trump’s “messaging” of victory in the Iran war was “a good first step” towards “extricating” the U.S. from the “catastrophic mistake” of staying in the region.
“The best ‘deal’ we can make with Iran at this point that works in our favor is to just leave,” Kent said, adding that Trump needed to close the deal or be pulled back in by the Iranians.
“We simply can’t assume that Iran will wait idly for us to make the next move,” he said. Kent opined that Iran was “radicalized” by the assassination of Iran’s former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as well as the strike on the girls’ school.
“It’s very likely that Iran will feel compelled to drag us back into the war in order to force the U.S. to retreat, bloodied, both for the sake of its national honor & for deterrence,” the former Counterterrorism Chief said.
Strait of Hormuz Toll
Trump pulling back troops and ships from the region will “deprive Iran of targets” needed to hit and escalate the war, Kent argued. He said that the President “can then offer sanctions relief & the unfreezing of assets as a carrot to get the SOH [Strait of Hormuz] open.”
Kent then said Iran would not be able to impose tolls on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz if the U.S. pulled back, as Tehran will “lose the justification” for the tolls. “Time is not on our side, and we are fools to think we can control the pace of the war,” he warned.
The former Counterterrorism official then said that the U.S. risked getting “sucked back in” to the war, which would “ultimately squander even more American blood and treasure.”
Iran-Oman Deal
The comments come as GasBuddy analyst Patrick De Haan said that a possible agreement between Oman and Iran would dim hopes of reduced oil prices.
Iran was reportedly seeking a 5% to 7% toll on ships traveling the Strait of Hormuz, while Oman was reportedly seeking a 3% toll. Iranian officials were also reportedly saying that they had received messages from the U.S. that it would be willing to go back to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in June in Switzerland.
Trump has received staunch criticism from Democratic Party lawmakers, with Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) slamming the former over claims that the Strait of Hormuz was open. Newsom’s press office said that the waterway remains closed. In 2025, the Strait of Hormuz was responsible for transporting approximately 20 million barrels of oil per day.
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