WorldHormuz crisis is commercial, not military problem, says David Des Roches

Former Pentagon director for Arabian Peninsula Affairs David Des Roches said negotiations over the Strait of Hormuz should focus first on restoring freedom of navigation for commercial shipping. He argued that Iran is using control of the waterway as leverage to deter future US attacks by making them carry what he called an excessively high cost. Des Roches described attacks on neutral civilian vessels as “a textbook definition of a war crime” and referred to charges for clearing mines laid by Iran.