Richard Weitz, a senior nonresident associate fellow at the NATO Defence College, stated that the US position on Iran's proposals regarding the Strait of Hormuz remains unclear. The White House is expected to believe they can wait and negotiate more favorable terms. The US is somewhat concerned about making premature concessions to Iran; in other words, the US would have to lift the sanctions, allow Iran to earn money through oil exports, and return some frozen assets, in exchange for Iran's promise to begin nuclear negotiations and open the straits. According to the US, these straits are already partially open to non-Iranian shipping. Iran has not changed its behavior or conditions during the negotiation process. Nevertheless, the US may be calculating that economic pressure will eventually lead to further concessions from the Iranian government. This situation arguably occurred a decade ago, ultimately resulting in the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, when the Iranian government determined that ending economic sanctions was necessary in exchange for concessions on its nuclear program. Therefore, we may see a similar trade-off in the coming months.
