I can think of one important way that Iran is better off — and the United States and the rest of the world far worse off — than before the war began. As of now, the regime controls the Strait of Hormuz in every meaningful sense. Iran decides which ships get through, if any. Iran determines whether one-fifth of the regular global fuel trade is cut off, at will. Iran can extort a toll from any ship that wishes to escape the Persian Gulf, so long as it fulfills the regime’s terms.

From the Earth to the Moon, and Back Again

Trump Announces Two-Week Cease-Fire with Iran to Negotiate Peace Deal

Iran Prepares to Dupe the West Again

President Trump announced a cease-fire on Tuesday, declaring that U.S. forces would cease striking Iran in exchange for the mullahs opening the Strait of Hormuz. In doing so, he conceded what everyone knows: Iran, and Iran alone, controls whether the strait is open or closed. We know this because, despite Trump’s cease-fire, the Strait of Hormuz remains very much closed.

As the Wall Street Journal reported hours ago:

Ship crossings through the Strait of Hormuz were limited to eight dry bulk and container ships moving cargo to Iran on Thursday, with the waterway effectively closed to other vessels, according to ship tracker Marine Traffic. Transits in both directions normally number about 135 a day. Brokers said four Chinese tankers with Saudi and Iraqi crude set sail for the strait on Thursday. Four stopped at the entrance of the Persian Gulf and one turned its transponder off and could no longer be tracked. It couldn’t be determined whether the three ships were negotiating passage with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The brokers said the fourth tanker was on schedule to cross the........

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