A prolonged operation in the Strait of Hormuz does more harm than good

With Brent crude futures surging past $115 a barrel, President Trump’s rejection of Iran’s latest Strait of Hormuz proposal is a test of whether Washington elites understand what ordinary Americans actually want: energy stability, not another forever war in the Gulf.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, through Pakistani mediators in the ongoing Islamabad process, recently floated a phased 14-point plan: reopen the Strait of Hormuz if the U.S. lifts its blockade, with nuclear talks deferred to a later stage.

Trump dismissed the offer as not acceptable, yet the real story is not Tehran’s maneuvering, but the widening gap between Beltway hawks who see confrontation as inevitable and voters who see confrontation as unaffordable.

Younger voters, already skeptical of ‘forever wars,’ view the Iran standoff as another distraction