NATIONALINTEREST | Brian G. Chow
The Trump administration should prioritize resolving the immediate Strait of Hormuz maritime crisis over Iran's nuclear program, advocating "sequential decoupling." This strategy involves first securing the strait's reopening to alleviate economic issues, then addressing nuclear disputes. The approach includes high-leverage retaliation, such as a "Flag-Based Blockade" to strip state flags from Iran's illicit oil-smuggling "shadow fleet," grounding vessels and paralyzing logistics. "Operation Economic Fury" complements this by freezing Iranian front-company revenues and seizing illicit cryptocurrency, imposing an estimated $500 million daily in lost revenue.
This pressure has already forced Iran to curtail up to 2.5 million barrels per day of crude production, with Kharg Island nearing storage capacity. Diplomacy requires a multilateral alliance, inviting NATO allies to form a unified naval task force for Hormuz and develop a new nonproliferation framework, using a 120-day enrichment moratorium as a tactical pause. This collective effort transforms a unilateral US burden into an allied front, offering a faster settlement while addressing Iran's 440 kg of 60 percent enriched uranium, sufficient for 11 nuclear warheads.
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