Trump's Inexcusable Unpreparedness for the Iranian Oil Crisis

"Perhaps the most startling thing about the whole situation is that the Trump Administration was apparently surprised by, and unprepared for, Iran's capability to inflict economic pain on the U.S. and its allies. This despite the fact that during a showdown in Trump's first term the regime in Tehran used the same tactics of threatening to block the Strait and of attacking oil infrastructure in neighboring Gulf states that are allied with the U.S."

"Two weeks after the United States and Israel launched an air war on Iran, there has been no let up in the conflict-or its financial repercussions. On Thursday, Iran's new Supreme Leader said that his country would keep closed the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping lane through which about a fifth of the world's oil flows, and more vessels in the Persian Gulf were attacked, including two oil tankers that were set ablaze off the coast of Iraq."

"Donald Trump, having plunged the country into a potentially disastrous war, with no clear rationale or exit plan, is flailing around for ways to mitigate its economic consequences. On Thursday, he suggested in a social-media post that the U.S., as the world's largest oil producer, makes a lot of money when prices go up."

Following U.S. and Israeli air strikes on Iran, the conflict escalates with Iran closing the Strait of Hormuz and attacking oil tankers in the Persian Gulf. Global crude prices exceed one hundred dollars per barrel, gasoline prices in the U.S. rise over twenty percent, and stock markets decline approximately four percent. The Trump Administration appears unprepared for Iran's economic leverage tactics, despite Iran employing identical strategies during Trump's first term, including threats to block the Strait and attacks on Gulf oil infrastructure. The administration lacks a coherent rationale or exit strategy for the conflict.

Read at The New Yorker