America Considers Next Step Towards Tehran: Will Naval Confrontation Begin?
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump is considering a plan to intercept and inspect Iranian oil tankers at sea under the banner of “combating the spread of weapons of mass destruction,” according to sources cited by Reuters.
This comes as part of President Trump’s commitment to apply “maximum pressure” to reduce U.S. oil exports to zero and push Tehran to bring its nuclear file to the negotiation table.
The Trump administration has already implemented two new rounds of sanctions in recent months targeting companies and oil tankers operating without Western insurance, transporting crude oil from sanctioned countries.
Reuters sources reported that the U.S. administration is exploring ways to allow allied nations to stop and inspect Iranian ships in key maritime passages. This would delay the delivery of Iranian-exported crude oil and expose the parties involved in transporting it to reputational risks in the market.
