THE frustrated rant by United States President Mr. Donald Trump against Iran in his social media post has now narrowed down the American goal of the unnecessary war to opening of the Strait of Hormuz. After all the raving, ranting and extravagant claims of victory, the American misadventure is now translating into a war of words over the maritime waterway even as Iran has refused to give in to Mr. Trump’s expletive-ridden threats on opening of the Strait. This leaves the war in a dangerous zone as the clueless US President is now almost isolated over the key waterway. Despite his threats of bombing Iran’s power plants and bridges on Tuesday, Mr. Trump seems a lost man with all his strategies going up in smoke once Iran used its biggest leverage of choking the Hormuz gulf. A military action against the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) looks a distant dream for the United States despite boasting world-class arsenal and ballistic missiles. Mr. Trump’s allies and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) members have already snubbed his offer to raise a unified attack front with French President Mr. Emmanuel Macron openly rejecting US calls for support in military operations.

 

Other countries, too, are finding their own ways to deal with the Iranian regime on safe passage to their cargo ships. The game has totally changed for Mr. Trump and it is reflected in the ‘F-bomb’ he dropped in his social media post. It was the rage of a defeated leader. That the US is finding it extremely difficult to bring nations on board to open the Strait of Hormuz is evident from the meeting convened by the United Kingdom with 40 countries to coordinate efforts to restore maritime traffic through the critical waterway. The meeting excludes the US, sending a message to the White House that the world is ready to bypass a so-called superpower to safeguard its own interests. It is a major blow for Mr. Trump’s image of being the “saviour of the world”. His flight of fantasy has well and truly sunk to the bottom of the Strait of Hormuz. By clearly ruling out military operations against Iran to open the Strait, global leaders have conveyed to Tehran that diplomatic channels will be the only means to tackle the issue. Experts have already red-flagged military options to reopen the Strait as unrealistic and risky.

 

The world does not want to walk the reckless path chosen by the US at the behest of Israel. It has, instead, opted to talk out the issue to resolve the crisis. This is the best development in the West Asia crisis so far as the US has been left to fight its own illogical war without success. It was, indeed, time for global leaders to come out of the US intimidation. The world is already paying the price of the manic US President’s misadventures. Already singed by the high tariffs, countries are now facing food and energy insecurity due to the unending Iran war. All the voices of wisdom to return to dialogue and de-escalation are being swatted away by Mr. Trump. Such circumstances call for a united front against bullying which many countries have already started to exhibit, first by rejecting tariffs and trade deals and now by refusing to be a part of the war. It would be a futile effort to make the American President see sense and the world must devise its own ways to come out of the West Asia crisis.

 

Opening up direct dialogue with the Iranian leadership remains the best option to ease the chokehold of Hormuz. Many governments have used their diplomatic channels to get concessions for their cargo vessels. India is at the forefront of these efforts as its diplomacy has yielded bumper results. Since the beginning of the war, India has managed to bring out almost ten cargo ships from the danger zone with the Indian Navy by their side. Other countries including China and Sri Lanka have also cut a deal with the IRGC for safe passage. It is a loud message for the world -- to protect its people’s interests instead of blindly following the myth of an American superpower.