President Donald Trump is considering a high-risk move in his war with Iran that could very well cost him the remaining voters who approve of his campaign against the Islamic regime.
Oil prices have continued to skyrocket amid the conflict, now entering its third week, as Iran maintains its stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway at the mouth of the Persian Gulf that transports roughly a fifth of the world’s supply each year.
The White House is now weighing an assault on Kharg Island—located toward the north of the gulf, and where the Islamic regime processes almost all of its crude oil exports—in an effort to pressure Iran into reopening the strait, Axios reports.
Senior officials told the outlet that any such operation, whether a blockade or an occupation, would undoubtedly require boots on the ground.
Trump has denied any plans to send troops into active conflict, even with more than 2,500 Marines already dispatched to the region, and with two more units of a similar size also thought to be on the way.
“He wants Hormuz open,” one aide said. “If he has to take Kharg Island to make it happen, that’s going to happen. If he decides to have a coastal invasion, that’s going to happen. But that decision hasn’t been made.”
“We’ve always had boots on the ground in conflict under every president, including Trump,” a second added. “I know this is a fixation in the media, and I get the politics, but the president is going to do what’s right.”
Latest polls, published Thursday, indicate just 7 percent of voters would support a large-scale ground war in Iran. Well over half now also say that their household finances have been hit by increased gas prices as a result of disruption to supply and trade transit in the region.
Whatever action Trump takes on Kharg Island, those prices now seem set only to rise further in the near future. “We need about a month to weaken the Iranians more with strikes, take the island and then get them by the balls and use it for negotiations,” a source told Axios.
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment on this story.
