File photo of a US air force F-15E Strike Eagle aircraft that was brought down by Iran near Isfahan in south-western Iran on April 3, 2026
To borrow from William Congreve’s 1697 play The Mourning Bride, “Heaven has no rage, like love to hatred turned, / Nor hell a fury, like a woman scorned”. This predicament explains the uncontrollable rage of the US President Donald Trump, a megalomaniac with an Amazonian ego, when belatedly he came to know that the Strait of Hormuz was not just one waterway amongst the 8 in the world.
By then Trump had already washed his hands off Iran’s move to shut down the Hormuz saying it was none of his concern, and left it the Europeans and the Gulf Arab sheikhs. Now he is staging a comeback and the turnaround is a wild swing, as he realises that if Iran is allowed to preside over the strait of Hormuz, it would have profound implications for “de-dollarisation.” Iran’s Majlis is already seized with legislation introducing a toll system to regulate the use of the waterway by foreign ships.
By a rough estimate, the revenue from the toll system will amount to something like one billion dollar or so annually by a conservative count. Iran and Iran-friendly Oman in whose territorial waters lies the Strait of Hormuz will jointly operate the new regime.
The mystique of the Strait of Hormuz is that regional states who know that the income generated out of the oil flow is the lifeblood of petrodollar cycling, which fuels the western banking system and gives the status of “world currency” to American dollar, will not talk about it or that it gives the US the unique privilege of printing paper currency freely to finance America’s interventionist projects in faraway lands to consolidate the US’ global hegemony.
Trump is horrified that control over the Hormuz waterway enhances Iran’s global influence. Put differently, Iran will have no more need to negotiate with the US. Tehran, in anticipation of the new regime for the Strait of Hormuz, has already proposed to the European Union an agreement on the new regime for the strait. Three days back, Iran green lighted a ship to sail through to France.
Trump’s fury is like that of a woman scorned who has been taken for ride. Never in the annals of international diplomacy would a world leader have used such expletives to abuse Iranians for making him look so foolish in the eyes of the world opinion — while his armada was winning battles, the ground beneath his feet was shifting and he didn’t even know that he has all but lost the war to Iran. Trump wrote on Truth Social announcing that he was giving time till tomorrow, Tuesday, to “open” the Strait of Hormuz:
“Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the Fuckin’ Starit, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell — JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah. President DONALD J. TRUMP”
Trump is threatening to punish Iran by bombing all the power plants and bridges in that country to bring it down to its knees. Trump is even otherwise having a difficult time, as the war is in drift and there is no gain to show. Iran also brought down so many American planes already that the world lost count.
In the estimation of Air Marshal (Retd.) Anil Chopra, a decorated Indian Air Force veteran and fighter test pilot himself, “As of early April 2026, the US has sustained several air asset losses during the conflict with Iran, including the downing of three F-15E Strike Eagles (friendly fire). An additional F-15E was downed over western Iran on April 3, 2026.
“One F-35 Lightning II aircraft, one A-10 Thunderbolt II, one E-3 Sentry AWACS, 17 MQ-9 Reaper drones, and damage to KC-135 aerial refuelling tankers make it an expensive military campaign for the US.
“Three Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawks were also reportedly damaged that were involved in the F-15 search and rescue efforts, which were struck by Iranian fire, according to reports… A mid-air collision killed six crew members, while an Iranian missile strike on Prince Sultan Air Base damaged another six KC-135 tankers. Iran also hit high-value US ground radars linked to the THAAD AD System, as well as other early-warning radars.
“Iran’s strategy aims to create a “war of attrition” to increase costs for the US and its allies, despite US air superiority. Iran’s strategy aims to create a “war of attrition” to increase costs for the US and its allies, despite US air superiority.”
Will Iran be browbeaten by Trump’s spiteful threats? No way. If he carries out his threats tomorrow, Iran will most certainly pay back in the same coin. An “informed source” told the semi-official Tasnim news agency in Tehran which is affiliated to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps [IRGC]: “If Trump intensifies his madness by carrying out these threats, he will only make his defeat more glorious! And of course, he should know that in this case, in addition to burning all American interests in the region, the consequences of the war will probably reach American territory… Trump will see that they will experience severe turmoil from within American territory… Iran is ready to escalate the tension to any extent.”
The Americans have never understood the Islamic Republic of Iran — its actions and ambitions on the world stage. Behind the veneer of theocracy and Islamic ideology, Iran is pursuing a grand strategy aimed at securing the country internally and asserting its place in the region and the world, as Prof. Vali Nasr wrote in his latest book Iran’s Grand Strategy.
Nasr traces the roots of Iran’s strategic outlook to its experiences over past four decades, especially the American containment strategy. These experiences have shaped a geopolitical outlook driven by pervasive fear of America and its plans for the Middle East.
It is a wrong notion that Iran’s foreign policy simply reflects its revolutionary values or theocratic government. Far from it; the country’s resistance to the US, its nuclear ambitions, and its pursuit of influence and proxies across the Middle East are driven by a grand strategy based on the legacy of colonialism and a constant search for independence and security. Thus, Iran will never capitulate. Trump will learn this home truth ultimately, and it is going to be a humbling personal experience that may even destroy his presidency.