Willing to end war without re-opening Hormuz, Trump tells aides as Iran refuses to budge

On Monday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that the U.S. was “working towards” normal operations in the strait, but didn’t list it among the core military objectives of targeting Iran’s navy, missiles, defense industry and ability to make a nuclear weapon.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking Monday to Al Jazeera, said the current campaign to complete U.S. military objectives will be finished within weeks.

“Then we’ll be confronted with this issue of the Straits of Hormuz, and it will be up to Iran to decide,” said Rubio, who is also Trump’s national security adviser, “or a coalition of nations from around the world and the region, with the participation of the United States, we’ll make sure that it’s open, one way or the other.”