President deploys marine unit that could put boots on the ground to secure key route for oil
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.
The president ordered a warship carrying an expeditionary unit that could lead to boots on the ground in Iran.
Mr Trump pledged that US forces would hit the Iranian regime “very hard” over the next week and added that the war with Tehran would end “when I feel it in my bones”.
More tankers came under fire from Iranian forces on Friday after the new supreme leader pledged to keep the strait closed until attacks on Iran stopped.
Pete Hegseth, the US defence secretary, insisted to reporters that they “don’t need to worry about” the strait. It was “something we are dealing with”, he said.
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.
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.
The marines and the new warship will join the USS Abraham Lincoln and the USS Gerald R Ford, which are already in the region.
Iran has said it is mining the Strait of Hormuz, through which some 20 per cent of the world’s oil passes.
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.
Oil prices topped $119 a barrel this week but settled to $100 a barrel by Friday. Analysts fear costs could surge to around $150, overtaking the price peak of the 2008 financial crisis.
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.
The US eased sanctions on Russian oil on Thursday night to help ease prices, prompting a split with the UK.
“It’s obviously a decision for the US, but our position is clear. All partners should maintain pressure on Russia and its war chest,” a spokesman for Sir Keir Starmer told reporters on Friday.
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.
“It is a tactically complex environment and before we take anything through, we want to be sure,” General Dan Caine, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, said at the Pentagon briefing on Friday.
Some have suggested that Mr Trump could move to seize Kharg Island, a vital Iranian oil hub which on Friday was attacked by the US military.
In a post on Truth Social, the US president said forces had “totally obliterated” military targets on the island.
He also threatened to target the island’s oil infrastructure if the Iranian regime continues to “interfere” with ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz nearby.
“The United States Central Command executed one of the most powerful bombing raids in the History of the Middle East, and totally obliterated every MILITARY target in Iran’s crown jewel, Kharg Island,” Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“I have chosen NOT to wipe out the Oil Infrastructure on the Island. However, should Iran, or anyone else, do anything to interfere with the Free and Safe Passage of Ships through the Strait of Hormuz, I will immediately reconsider.”
Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran’s new supreme leader, vowed on Thursday to keep the strait closed as a “tool to pressure the enemy”.
The US has been under pressure to escort tankers through the strait, but so far, the navy has considered that too dangerous.
Chris Wright, the US energy secretary, told CNBC on Thursday that it was “quite likely” the navy would be escorting tankers by the end of the month.
“It’ll happen relatively soon but it can’t happen now. We’re simply not ready. All of our military assets right now are focused on destroying Iran’s offensive capabilities and the manufacturing industry that supplies their offensive capabilities,” he said.
Scott Bessent, the US treasury secretary, told Sky News on Thursday that escorts would begin “as soon as it is militarily possible”.
Supreme leader ‘wounded and disfigured’
He suggested these escorts could be carried out by the US navy or with “an international coalition”.
Meanwhile, Mr Hegseth also claimed on Friday that Iran’s new supreme leader was “wounded and likely disfigured” by recent strikes on Iran.
“Desperate and hiding, they have gone underground, cowering. That’s what rats do,” he said. It came after Mr Khamenei’s first official message as leader was delivered via a newsreader on Thursday.
Moments later, Iranian state TV showed members of Iran’s leadership marching through the streets of Tehran in defiance of Mr Trump, stopping for selfies along the way.
On Friday, the US announced that six crew members were killed on board a refuelling tanker that crashed in Iraq on Thursday night. The incident brings the US death toll to 11.
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
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