DUBAI – If U.S. President Donald Trump ends the war with Iran without a deal, he risks leaving Tehran with a stranglehold over Middle East energy supplies and Gulf Arab oil and gas producers grappling with the fallout of a conflict they did not start or shape.
Instead of crushing Iran’s theocratic rulers, it could leave them stronger, emboldened by surviving weeks of U.S.-Israeli attacks, firing on Arab Gulf states and rattling global energy markets by effectively shutting the Strait of Hormuz.
In an interview before a scheduled address to the nation on Wednesday, Trump said the United States would end its war on Iran “pretty quickly” and signaled on Tuesday he could wind down the war even without a deal.
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