Vance accuses Iran of 'economic terrorism' in Strait of Hormuz as US blockade comes into effect

Nada Tawfik
Reporting from Washington DC

Experts on
US-Iran relations have been sharing their takeaways from the last few days and
how this could ultimately end.

Trita Parsi of the Quincy Institute believes the
most likely scenario could be that the two countries do not reach an agreement,
but a new status quo is created with the US walking away and Iran charging for
passage of the Strait of Hormuz.

Both sides would in that scenario claim
victory. However, he says that wouldn’t be ideal for Iran, which would benefit
more from a deal with sanctions relief. Reconstruction, Trita Parsi says, would
be impossible without sanctions lifted and the ability to re-establish economic
ties with Europe and Asia.

Robert Malley, who served as US special envoy for
Iran from 2021 to 2023, says what’s difficult for Iranian decision makers is
how to trust that in any deal, if they give up part of their enriched uranium,
that President Trump won’t renege and reimpose sanctions.

Meanwhile, Narges
Bajoghli with Johns Hopkins University says with the US blockade, President
Trump has just put himself in a position where he will now take the fall for
the rise in prices and shortages. She says Iran now sees the Strait of Hormuz,
rather than their nuclear program, as its greatest leverage.