President Trump is seeking ways to reopen the Strait of Hormuz as gas prices rise. The US Marine Corps may be his best bet. The Pentagon has deployed the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, a rapid-response force of about 2,200 Marines, to the Middle East.
The unit, aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli, is slated to arrive in the Middle East from Japan in just over a week. A Marine Expeditionary Unit is a self-sustained unit that operates off ships, using them as a mobile base.
Iran has essentially closed the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway through which about 20% of the world's oil flows, with attacks on commercial traffic. The move has wreaked havoc on the global economy, driving up gas prices in the US and elsewhere.
The US could use the unit to seize one or more of the islands off the southern coast of Iran to use as leverage or as a base to counter Iranian attacks on commercial shipping, according to former and current US officials.
The Marines could seize Kharg Island, positioned at the northern end of the Gulf roughly 300 miles from the Strait that serves as Iran's main oil export hub. Alternatively, they could seize Qeshm Island, a large and arrow-shaped island that sits at the mouth of the Strait and hosts Iranian naval vessels and missiles in underground tunnels.
