Trump's ‘American territory’ plan for Hormuz is a maximalist demand: Brian Clark

US President Donald Trump has doubled down on his aspiration to make the Strait of Hormuz "an American territory", saying: "We control it. We control it with the blockade." In an interview with Al Jazeera, senior fellow Brian Clark of the Hudson Institute said Trump's demand that Iran "raise the flag of surrender" is a "maximalist demand", and that both sides are "simply making assertions and then hoping that the other side backs down." Clark said the MOU is now "a dead letter" and that diplomacy is effectively at a standstill, though US interlocutors are in touch with various Iranian factions, including the IRGC, which is "somewhat ascendant". He said Trump has "no good options" and that the US is hoping the naval blockade will create enough economic pressure to force Iran to yield, but Tehran has been able to sustain itself through land borders and the Caspian Sea. Clark predicted that the eventual resolution could see Iran and Oman controlling the strait under a fee arrangement, while the US would need a "fig leaf" to claim a face-saving outcome.

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