‘Iran calls the shots’: Mearsheimer says US Navy powerless to control Strait of Hormuz
As tensions in the Persian Gulf reach a fever pitch, a top American political scientist has delivered a stark assessment of US military limitations, saying Washington is unable to guarantee the security of the world’s most important energy waterway.
In remarks that have resonated widely on social media, international relations scholar John Mearsheimer pointed to the strategic reality unfolding in the region and asserted that the Strait of Hormuz is firmly within Tehran’s sphere of influence.
The strategic waterway, through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil supply flows each day, has been in the news after Iran closed it to ships linked to the US and the Israeli regime.
Many tankers have been targeted by Iranian naval forces in the past few weeks for breaching the ban imposed by Iran amid the American-Israeli war of aggression on the country.
US President Donald Trump had warned to escort vessels passing through the strategic waterway, but abandoned the idea after subsequent warnings from the Iranian side.
The closure of the waterway has led to economic shockwaves across the world, with energy prices in the US and Europe soaring alarmingly.
Mearsheimer emphasized the critical nature of the chokepoint, ruling out the American leverage to have it opened without the permission of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The Strait of Hormuz is of extraordinary importance,” the prominent political scientist and theorist stated, delivering a blunt verdict on American capabilities.
