In an exclusive Al Jazeera interview, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said President Trump prefers diplomacy over military escalation with Iran, but warned Tehran will face severe consequences if the Strait of Hormuz is not reopened.
Rubio stated that US military objectives — destroying Iran’s air force, navy, missile launchers, and weapons factories — will be achieved in weeks, not months.
Paul Musgrave, associate professor at Georgetown University in Qatar and US foreign policy analyst, argued that Washington has created a crisis that did not exist a month ago, warning that Iran controlling the strait sets a dangerous precedent for global choke points from Bab el-Mandab to the Taiwan Straits. He stressed that 20% of the world’s hydrocarbon supply is now choked off, putting global economic security at stake.
Hassan Ahmadian, associate professor at the University of Tehran, countered that the strait is already partly open to vessels coordinating with Iran, which Tehran sees as legitimate leverage and a source of revenue to rebuild war damages.
He insisted that US threats have lost their weight now that Iran is already at war, and that any further bombing will be met with strikes on similar targets.
Ahmadian concluded that a threatened bombing campaign will not force Iran to surrender its leverage.

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