The Trump administration had no plan for what to do if Iran closed off the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for the U.S. bombing the country, according to a report.
The Pentagon and the National Security Council had completely underestimated how willing Iran would be to shut off the vital shipping lane between Iran and Oman, through which around one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas passes, multiple sources told CNN.
The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has sparked a worldwide oil crisis, with prices rising above $100 a barrel for the first time in four years. Multiple sources familiar with the war operations said they are in shock that Trump’s national security team failed to plan for what was considered the “worst-case scenario” after starting a war with Iran.
“Planning around preventing this exact scenario—impossible as it has long seemed—has been a bedrock principle of U.S. national security policy for decades,” a former U.S. official who served in Republican and Democratic administrations told CNN. “I’m dumbfounded.”
Top Trump administration officials admitted to lawmakers during classified briefings that they had not planned for the possibility of Iran closing the passage. Multiple Democrats emerged from those meetings expressing shock and outrage at the lack of planning and justification for launching the war.
The administration did not expect Iran to close the Strait of Hormuz because it believed doing so would hurt Iran more than the U.S., sources said. Officials argued that the view was justified because Iran did not close the passage when the U.S. targeted Iran’s nuclear facilities with airstrikes in June 2025.
Oil tankers and cargo ships have been left stranded by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, with Iran reportedly attacking vessels that attempt to sail through amid the conflict.
The U.S. Navy has reportedly refused requests from ships seeking military escorts through the strait since the start of the Iran war on Feb. 28 because it would be too dangerous.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright suggested that naval escorts for oil tankers could begin later this month.
“It’ll happen relatively soon, but it can’t happen now. We’re simply not ready,” Wright told CNBC on Thursday. “All of our military assets right now are focused on destroying Iran’s offensive capabilities and the manufacturing industry that supplies those capabilities.”
New Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei—the son of the country’s former leader, Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a strike on the first day of the war—said the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed as a “tool of pressure.”
The Daily Beast has contacted the Pentagon for comment.
