President Donald Trump‘s former counterterrorism chief Joe Kent has warned against Washington’s threat to impose “crushing economic” measures against Iran, reiterating that the U.S. should provide sanctions relief to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Pull Out US Troops From Middle East
On Wednesday, Kent took to the social media platform X, quoting a post by the Rapid Response handle that shared a screenshot of Trump’s Truth Social post threatening economic woes for Iran. Kent said that Trump’s plan was implemented: “Iran will respond by striking the troops we have still in the region.”
He then said that the U.S. needed to “deprive Iran” of doing that by pulling troops “out of harm’s way instead of leaving them as leverage for Iran to exploit.”
Kent added that the U.S. could then “offer Iran sanctions relief/unfreezing of assets in exchange for opening the SOH [Strait of Hormuz].” He touted the plan as the “least destructive” way to end the “mess” and “put Americans first.”
Uncertainty over the Strait of Hormuz, which transported roughly 20 million barrels of oil every day in 2025, has caused volatility in global markets as Trump earlier rejected an extension of the 60-day ceasefire with Iran. At the time of writing this article, the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude commanded a price of $84.53/bbl, while Brent crude was trading at $91.90/bbl.
On the gas and diesel front, data from the American Automobile Association (AAA) showed that the national average price of diesel on Wednesday was $5.5042/gallon, higher than Tuesday’s average price of $5.4677/gallon. The national average price of gas was at $4.0860/gallon.
Iran Has Partially Lost Strait of Hormuz
The comments come as analysts say that the U.S. is gaining control over the Strait of Hormuz, which has been the key point of contention between Washington and Tehran as Iran seeks a 5%-7% toll on ships traversing the Strait. Analysts said, “It increasingly looks like Iran has at least partially lost control of the strait.”
Meanwhile, reports emerged that Iran could be preparing to strike U.S. targets in Europe, with the Iranian military assessing the feasibility of striking a U.S. base in Bulgaria, while Cyprus has also emerged as a possible option for the Iranians, according to reports.
Trump had earlier said that the Strait of Hormuz belonged to the U.S., which was denied by Iran’s Security Chief, Mohsen Rezaee, who mocked Trump’s assertions and pointed to the distance between the waterway and Washington DC. Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA), tasked with overseeing the flow of traffic in the waterway, had also earlier pushed back against Trump.
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