In an interview with Al Jazeera, former Pentagon director for Arabian Peninsula Affairs David Des Roches said the priority in the Strait of Hormuz negotiations is restoring freedom of navigation for commercial shipping, arguing Iran is using its control over the waterway as leverage to deter future US attacks by creating "too high a price to pay".
He described Iran's attacks on neutral civilian shipping as "a textbook definition of a war crime" and said charging ships to clear mines laid by Iran would amount to "a textbook definition of extortion".
Des Roches argued the dispute is primarily a commercial rather than a military issue, with restoring confidence in global insurance markets essential for resuming normal trade. He warned that allowing Iran to impose transit fees would set a dangerous global precedent, potentially encouraging similar charges in other strategic waterways. He added that Iran's ability to disrupt shipping stems from geography, meaning it can threaten maritime traffic whenever it chooses, regardless of any agreement.
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