Former Biden official says Trump’s blockade ‘might be helpful’ in negotiations

The U.S. military blockade in the Strait of Hormuz “might be helpful” in bringing Iran to the table for peace talks, a former White House national security official in the Biden administration said Tuesday. 

“I think as a potential diplomatic tactic it might be helpful,” retired Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby said on MS Now. “What this could do . . . is encourage the Chinese to be more helpful with Iran and get them back to the negotiating table because China certainly is dependent upon oil coming in and out of the Gulf.”

The Navy will try to block ships as they go to and from Iranian ports in a bid to put an economic squeeze on Tehran. The U.S. also hopes to put pressure on Iran’s allies like China, which relies on its oil exports, which might lead them to weigh in with the regime.

Tuesday morning marks the end of the first full day of the U.S. blockade on the Strait of Hormuz, which Trump ordered on Sunday to attempt to bring Iran to the table and end the war that he began with Israel on Feb. 28.

Kirby added that the blockade might entice Beijing to “put a little bit more pressure on Iran to be more serious at the negotiating table and could lead us to some kind of negotiated settlement.”

He noted, however, that there’s unlikely to be much positive economic impact coming out of the blockade as “it’s difficult to get shipping companies to feel comfortable that this blockade is going to make it easier or safer for their ships to transit that strait” as they still could come under Iranian fire.

The first round of in-person talks between U.S. and Iranian officials in Pakistan on Saturday ended without much progress. Washington wants Tehran to dismantle its nuclear enrichment facilities, which has become a sticking point.

U.S. officials are now reportedly looking at potential dates and locations for a second round of negotiations before a two-week ceasefire between the two countries expires.

Diplomat Richard Haass, who has been critical of the Trump administration’s military operations against Iran, also has been among those to advocate for a blockade strategy in the strait.

“Good to see Pres Trump has announced US will mount a blockade of Strait of Hormuz unless Iran opens it to all. We should also propose a new governance authority for the Strait in which Iran participates but doesn’t control,” Haass, a former Republican senior national security official, wrote on social media Sunday.

Haass also told The New York Times on Monday that a blockade “adds to the economic pressure on Iran that already existed before the war and was made worse by the war. If they want to sell their oil, they need to reopen the strait to all.”

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