"Pentagon, NSC 'underestimated' Iran’s willingness to blockade the Strait of Hormuz"

It has emerged that the U.S. Department of Defense and the National Security Council (NSC) significantly underestimated Iran’s resolve to block the Strait of Hormuz in response to U.S. strikes.

According to CNN on the 13th (local time), senior Trump administration officials acknowledged in a recent closed-door congressional briefing that they were not prepared for the possibility that Iran would blockade the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for U.S. airstrikes.

The misjudgment stemmed from an internal view within the administration that a blockade would inflict greater damage on Iran than on the United States. In particular, the fact that Iran’s threatened response amounted to little more than rhetoric during last summer’s U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities is understood to have reinforced that assessment. Although Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Energy Secretary Chris Wright played key roles from the operational planning stage, President Trump’s reliance on only a small circle of confidants pushed aside the economic analysis and forecasts of expert agencies that had played a central role in past administrations.

As a result, a critical chokepoint for global crude shipments has been closed, plunging the shipping and energy industries into severe turmoil. Shipping executives have repeatedly requested armed tanker escorts from the U.S. Navy, but authorities have rejected all such requests. U.S. military authorities judge that the risk to U.S. assets is currently too great to conduct escort operations within the strait.

However, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in an interview with the UK’s Sky News that “an escort will begin as soon as militarily possible,” adding that “the possibility of the U.S. Navy or an international coalition escorting tankers was always part of our planning.”

Despite turmoil in energy markets and concerns among allies, the White House is playing down the market fallout. White House spokesperson Anna Kelly argued that “disruptions to the energy supply chain will only be temporary and, over the long term, will bring enormous benefits to the U.S. and the global economy.” Energy Secretary Chris Wright likewise told NewsNation that “to secure long-term benefits, we have to endure short-term pain, and we are in the middle of that process right now.”