The conservative editorial board of the Wall Street Journal raised questions about a key term included in the Memorandum of Understanding struck by President Donald Trump's administration and the Iranian regime over the weekend.
On Sunday, Trump announced that he had agreed to a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz immediately and for 60 days thereafter, as the administration and the Iranians continue negotiating to end the war. The Strait of Hormuz has been closed since the war began in late February, roiling the global economy and fueling inflation in the U.S.
However, a close reading of the document reveals that reopening the Strait of Hormuz may not be as straightforward as Trump is making it seem, the WSJ editors warned.
"The regime held Hormuz hostage during the war," the editors wrote in a new editorial. "The danger here is in formalizing the extortion into a new, worse status quo. The deal also empowers Iran to 'define the future administration' of Hormuz in dialogue with obsequious Oman. This is a recipe for the surrender of the Strait to the dictates of Iranian foreign policy."
"One sales pitch for the MOU has been that 'at least it gets Hormuz open.' Does it?" they added.