Washington, DC, June 17 (ANI): A US intelligence assessment revealed on Wednesday that Iran has acquired the ability to shut the Strait of Hormuz at will following the war, sources told CNN.
According to the assessment, Iran’s ability to disrupt the global economy through the critical waterway could resurface regardless of the framework agreement set to be signed on Friday.
Iran has now become the United States’ Achilles’ heel, having learned to leverage strikes on Gulf countries’ energy infrastructure, sources familiar with the assessment told CNN. Iran had struck US bases in neighboring countries, installations that were intended to serve as security guarantees by the United States.
“We have now handed Iran de facto control over the strait — a weapon more powerful than any nuke,” one of the sources familiar with the US intelligence assessments told CNN.
The United States has had to negotiate intensively with Iran to fully reopen the strait, underscoring Tehran’s continued leverage.
US Vice President JD Vance, speaking about the Iran deal expected to be signed on Friday in Switzerland, said, “It says, one, Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon; two, the Straits of Hormuz are open; and number three, there are all of these benefits contemplated that the Iranians can get if they behave. If they don’t behave, they don’t get anything.”
Vance did not elaborate on what those benefits would be.
Uncertainty over the contents of the agreement and other risks are also likely to keep traffic through the Strait of Hormuz to a trickle for weeks or months, shipping industry officials and experts who track ship movements told CNN.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump on Tuesday vowed to publicly release the text of the agreement with Iran “in a couple of days” and even floated the idea of reciting the entire document before cameras.
The US president indicated that he is waiting for a “formal setting” before revealing it publicly.
“I’d like to get a formal setting first before we do that, but I have no problem with that. It’s a great document,” Trump said during a meeting with United Arab Emirates President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in France.
Detailing the core substance of the accord, Trump added, “Here’s what it says: Iran will never have a nuclear weapon.”
The president signed the agreement electronically on Sunday, but the full text has not been publicly disclosed. Neither members of Congress nor Trump’s fellow world leaders have read it in full. However, the US president downplayed concerns over the secrecy surrounding the agreement. (ANI)
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