Obama Says the Iran War Handed Tehran Veto Power Over Hormuz
Campaigning in Ohio and Michigan nine days before the midterm elections, Barack Obama said the conflict with Iran had given Tehran “veto power” over the Strait of Hormuz. He called the election “our last best chance to at least rein in some of the foolishness of this administration”.
The charge is more pointed than the usual campaign fare, because it is a former president arguing that the sitting administration has handed a hostile state leverage over a chokepoint through which a large share of the world’s seaborne oil passes — and it lands while Brent sits at a six-month high and Washington draws down embassy staff across the region. In Cleveland he reached for a longer indictment: after “two years of chaos and cruelty and corruption and incompetence”, voters should decide that “enough is enough”. He also found room for ridicule, asking of the refurbished White House: “What’s with all the gold?” President Trump was in Georgia the same day, telling supporters that “we’re in the golden age of America”, describing oil prices as temporarily high and pledging a payment of $5,000; he voted in West Palm Beach. The midterms fall on 3 November, which is also the date after which reported American and Israeli plans for renewed strikes on Iran are said to begin — reporting that rests on unnamed officials.