by Thaddeus G. McCotter
Iran’s chokehold on the Straits of Hormuz exploits Western division, turning diplomacy into surrender and giving the mullahs a new shield for terror, coercion, and nuclear ambition.
As of this writing, the Iranian mullahs’ piratical closure of the Strait of Hormuz remains unresolved, whether through military or diplomatic means, or both.
The military option entailed a proposal to mount a protective flotilla of U.S. and European navies to keep the Strait of Hormuz open. The European partners within NATO have demurred; President Trump has denounced their reticence in blunt and brutal language. This has quite naturally led to bruised European egos and wounded their national pride.
Unfortunately for President Trump, opposing his request to militarily defend the Strait of Hormuz—and, more broadly, opposing the president himself—has proved to be a winning domestic political strategy for the leaders of these EU and NATO nations, at least in the short run.
This EU/NATO coalition of the unwilling has weakened the American hand, as it has effectively forced a shift toward seeking a diplomatic resolution to the conflict with Iran.
The division among NATO’s European nations and the United States has been accompanied by attacks from Iran and its proxies on non-NATO U.S. allies in the region, aimed at coercing them into demanding an end to American military operations against the mullahs.
Moreover, the Iranian regime is concomitantly employing propaganda to foment international opposition to the U.S. and aiming to disrupt the economies of America and her allied nations to increase pressure on the U.S. to cease and desist.
In sum, the Iranian regime’s strategy is simple: utilize any means at its insidious disposal to have other nations and their peoples—including Americans—compel the United States to acquiesce to Iran’s unconditional strategic victory. This is why, in the dire straits of Hormuz, the Iranian mullahs have become the sultans of sin.
This is also why one must continually impress upon our erstwhile European allies that, in the long run, this outcome must be avoided at all costs.
One can justly criticize the Trump administration’s performance before and during this phase of the Iran War. Speaking for myself only, I have long argued that the heinous Iranian regime must implode beneath the Iranian people’s thirst for freedom, not explode from the kinetic actions of the U.S. military.
The mullahs recognize this, too. Iran’s barbaric regime, which has recently killed over 30,000 of its own freedom-seeking citizens, including Saleh Mohammadi, a 19-year-old champion wrestler, will continue doing so as long as it remains in power. The regime will continue to lie through its bloodstained maw to get enough breathing room to tighten its iron hold on Iranians and rebuild its military—including nuclear—power.
But America and her EU/NATO and other allies are where we are, and a recrudescence of recriminations will not avail us.
Iran’s mullahs sought nuclear weapons as a shield for their continued export of terrorism. In the Obama administration’s misguided effort to negotiate an end to the regime’s nuclear program, the exclusion of Iran’s sponsorship of terrorism and its brutal treatment of its own citizens produced a twofer: the mullahs could wield the threat of abandoning negotiations to deter U.S. and allied military action, even as they covertly advanced their nuclear ambitions to achieve and reinforce those same aims.
Right now, like it or not—and I do not—if the United States “negotiates” a resolution or simply declares victory and ceases and desists (the Europeans are not the only ones who can play to domestic politics), Iran’s rulers will have secured a third shield for their exportation of terrorism: the ability to close the Strait of Hormuz at will.
Indeed, Iran has already commenced using its piratical closure of the Strait of Hormuz to shield itself from the consequences of its actions. This is no Trojan horse. By only opening the strait to “non-hostile vessels” who coordinate and cooperate with the regime, Iran is declaring, in a crystal-clear manner, ownership over one of the world’s most critical international waterways.
Moreover, this maneuver is firmly in line with the regime’s strategy of isolating the United States and Israel and bringing international pressure to bear on both to cease their operations against Tehran. The fact that Iran sent its unilateral announcement to the United Nations—an institution less than worthless in confronting Tehran—serves to put the world on notice regarding the regime’s intent and aims.
Further, anyone who believes this deceitful regime’s alleged promises to abandon its pursuit of nuclear weapons is dangerously disregarding the Iranian regime’s decades-long lies about its nuclear and missile programs. Iran’s firing of missiles capable of reaching Diego Garcia should have ended any notion that the regime can credibly or honestly adhere to verifiable international agreements.
But the American people, who are already weary and wary of both the military and economic costs of this war, will not support sending our ground troops into Iran—period.
Thus, diplomacy under present conditions will require a united front among the free world and our regional Arab allies. It will require securing freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz and a coordinated diplomatic effort to contain the Iranian regime and set it on a path toward collapse under the weight of its people’s aspirations for liberty.
Unfortunately, there are many—both at home and abroad—who would prefer to see President Trump and/or Israel fail in the Iran war rather than see their strategic objectives realized. In pursuit of their own political interests, those openly or covertly rooting for the barbaric mullahs—who continue to butcher their own citizens and attempt to hold the global economy hostage—are worse than misguided. They abet the erosion of American and international security and cement Iran’s ability to export terrorism, reconstitute its nuclear and missile capabilities, and engage in economic extortion with impunity.
That is far too high a price for the world to pay to “humble” President Trump and harm our ally Israel.
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An American Greatness contributor, the Hon. Thaddeus G. McCotter (M.C., Ret.) served Michigan’s 11th Congressional district from 2003 to 2012. He served as Chair of the Republican House Policy Committee and as a member of the Financial Services, Joint Economic, Budget, Small Business, and International Relations Committees. Not a lobbyist, he is also a contributor to Chronicles; a frequent public speaker and moderator for public policy seminars; and a cohost of “John Batchelor: Eye on the World” on CBS radio, among sundry media appearances.
Thaddeus G. McCotter
Source: https://amgreatness.com/2026/03/28/the-dire-strait-of-hormuz/
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