{"id":18628,"date":"2026-03-14T02:17:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-14T02:17:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/18628\/"},"modified":"2026-03-14T02:17:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-14T02:17:15","slug":"trump-sends-military-to-open-strait-of-hormuz-by-force","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/18628\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump sends military to open Strait of Hormuz by force"},"content":{"rendered":"

Donald Trump is sending US marines to the Middle East to reopen the Strait of Hormuz as concerns grow that rising oil prices could cause a global recession.<\/a><\/p>\n

The president ordered a warship carrying an expeditionary unit that could lead to boots on the ground in Iran.<\/p>\n

Mr Trump pledged that US forces would hit the Iranian regime \u201cvery hard\u201d over the next week and added that the war<\/a> with Tehran would end \u201cwhen I feel it in my bones\u201d.<\/p>\n

More tankers came under fire<\/a> from Iranian forces on Friday after the new supreme leader pledged to keep the strait closed<\/a> until attacks on Iran stopped.<\/p>\n

Pete Hegseth, the US defence secretary, insisted to reporters that they \u201cdon\u2019t need to worry about\u201d the strait. It was \u201csomething we are dealing with\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n

US officials confirmed on Friday that the USS Tripoli had already departed from Okinawa, Japan, with 5,000 sailors and a Marine Amphibious Ready Group, the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit.<\/p>\n

The expeditionary unit is capable of carrying out special air and surface operations and has landing force capabilities, but is unlikely to arrive for another two weeks.<\/p>\n

\"Members<\/p>\n

Members of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, which is capable of launching ground assaults – US Marine Corps<\/p>\n

The marines and the new warship will join the USS Abraham Lincoln and the USS Gerald R Ford, which are already in the region.<\/p>\n

Iran has said it is mining the Strait of Hormuz, through which some 20 per cent of the world\u2019s oil passes.<\/p>\n

Emmanuel Macron is in talks with Iran to allow French ships through the strait, according to reports. The talks were part of European efforts, the Financial Times reported. Britain is not understood to be talking to the regime.<\/p>\n

Oil prices topped $119 a barrel this week but settled to $100 a barrel<\/a> by Friday. Analysts fear costs could surge to around $150, overtaking the price peak of the 2008 financial crisis.<\/p>\n

Goldman Sachs said the risk of a US recession had now risen to one in four as it forecast the energy shock would push up inflation.<\/a><\/p>\n

The US eased sanctions on Russian oil<\/a> on Thursday night to help ease prices, prompting a split with the UK.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s obviously a decision for the US, but our position is clear. All partners should maintain pressure on Russia and its war chest,\u201d a spokesman for Sir Keir Starmer told reporters on Friday.<\/p>\n

Military analysts said reopening the strategic shipping lane may require a ground operation, according to the Wall Street Journal. It is likely that such an operation would lead to much higher casualties among US and allied forces.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a tactically complex environment and before we take anything through, we want to be sure,\u201d General Dan Caine, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, said at the Pentagon briefing on Friday.<\/p>\n

Some have suggested that Mr Trump could move to seize Kharg Island,<\/a> a vital Iranian oil hub which has so far been untouched by the conflict. On Friday, Mr Trump refused to comment on the idea.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not high on the list, but it\u2019s one of so many different things, and I can change my mind in seconds,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran\u2019s new supreme leader, vowed on Thursday to keep the strait closed as a \u201ctool to pressure the enemy\u201d.<\/p>\n

The US has been under pressure to escort tankers through the strait,<\/a> but so far, the navy has considered that too dangerous.<\/p>\n

Chris Wright, the US energy secretary, told CNBC on Thursday that it was \u201cquite likely\u201d the navy would be escorting tankers by the end of the month.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019ll happen relatively soon but it can\u2019t happen now. We\u2019re simply not ready. All of our military assets right now are focused on destroying Iran\u2019s offensive capabilities and the manufacturing industry that supplies their offensive capabilities,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Scott Bessent, the US treasury secretary, told Sky News on Thursday that escorts would begin \u201cas soon as it is militarily possible\u201d.<\/p>\n

Supreme leader \u2018wounded and disfigured\u2019<\/p>\n

He suggested these escorts could be carried out by the US navy or with \u201can international coalition\u201d.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Mr Hegseth also claimed on Friday that Iran\u2019s new supreme leader was \u201cwounded and likely disfigured\u201d<\/a> by recent strikes on Iran.<\/p>\n

\u201cDesperate and hiding, they have gone underground, cowering. That\u2019s what rats do,\u201d he said. It came after Mr Khamenei\u2019s first official message as leader was delivered via a newsreader on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Moments later, Iranian state TV showed members of Iran\u2019s leadership marching through the streets<\/a> of Tehran in defiance of Mr Trump, stopping for selfies along the way.<\/p>\n

On Friday, the US announced that six crew members were killed on board a refuelling tanker that crashed<\/a> in Iraq on Thursday night. The incident brings the US death toll to 11.<\/p>\n

Try full access to The Telegraph free today. Unlock their award-winning website and essential news app, plus useful tools and expert guides for your money, health and holidays.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Donald Trump is sending US marines to the Middle East to reopen the Strait of Hormuz as concerns…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":18629,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[9378,38,9419,102,34,9316,261,772,101,1974,9379],"class_list":{"0":"post-18628","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-strait-of-hormuz","8":"tag-31st-marine-expeditionary-unit","9":"tag-donald-trump","10":"tag-expeditionary-unit","11":"tag-hormuz","12":"tag-iran","13":"tag-marine-expeditionary-unit","14":"tag-oil-prices","15":"tag-pete-hegseth","16":"tag-strait-of-hormuz","17":"tag-supreme-leader","18":"tag-uss-tripoli"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116225130030216321","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18628"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18628\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18629"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}