Will the Persian Gulf Council ever see the light of day? Probably NOT; it is merely an illustrative description of what should have been done to avoid the chaos of the coming months. The management of the Strait of Hormuz should be neither that of Trump—the president of chaos who will cause the greatest chaos the world has seen since World War II—nor that of Iran, which is trying to carve out a role for itself that its neighbors will never accept.

The current Gulf Cooperation Council represents the coastal states, excluding Iraq and Iran. Expanding it to include these two countries could amount to creating a true Persian Gulf Council, but this should probably be avoided:

• The Gulf Cooperation Council has historically tended to oppose the two absent countries: changing organizations would allow us to start a completely new project,
• If Iran continues to insist on maintaining sole control over the Strait of Hormuz, other countries will have no choice but to undertake major projects that render passage through the Strait of Hormuz unnecessary. In such a case, a joint organization comprising these countries (excluding Iran) is needed to lead and carry out this work.

Some Persian Gulf countries are trying to obtain some sort of authorization from the UN to use force to control the Strait of Hormuz—authorization they will be quick to delegate to other countries or that the “president of chaos” will claim for himself. It will be virtually impossible to control the Strait of Hormuz militarily without controlling a large part of Iran’s territory. And even in that case, it will be easy for Iran to disrupt navigation in the Persian Gulf, whether directly from the shore or via drones.

Are the countries bordering the Persian Gulf willing to send a strong message to all those who claim to control the Persian Gulf or the Strait of Hormuz without them?

A toll on the Strait of Hormuz? That would make sense for the Persian Gulf Council, given the need to establish round-the-clock monitoring of maritime traffic. Any toll collected by a coastal country would have to be remitted to the Persian Gulf Council.

The “President of Chaos” has promised hell for Iran. It will be hell for all the countries of the Persian Gulf and a step backward for everyone, with, as a bonus, the greatest chaos the world has ever known—a feat the “President of Chaos” considers magnificent. In any case, Israel—whose specialty is torpedoing any diplomatic initiative that gets in the way—has taken the lead: by single-handedly bombing the largest petrochemical complex, it has ensured that there is no turning back. This is not the first time, nor will it be the last, that Israel has forced Trump’s hand, leaving him no choice but to follow along and provoke the greatest chaos the world has ever known. It was not he who carried out these threats, but his ally, to ensure they came to pass.

Naej DRANER

April 7, 2026