Trump’s ‘dirty ceasefire’ tested as Iran hits shipping

Matthew Savill at Rusi, the London-based think-tank, said the signals were that both sides were manoeuvring for position ahead of any talks. The Iranians have some advantages because they just need the “perception of threat” to keep the strait closed. But they could also misread the US in believing they can outlast the Trump administration and overplay their hand, he said. “The risk for the US is that it can do phenomenal damage,” Savill said. “But if it doesn’t have a way of turning that into political success, then what it has done is really hammer the Iranians . . . but at such a cost that down the line they regret it.”