OPINION:
In June 2025, the United States, with Israel, attacked Iran with the stated objective of destroying Tehran’s capability to create a nuclear weapon.
On Feb. 11, 2026, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traveled to Washington to ask that the U.S. again join Israel in a further attack on Iran.
That joint attack continues to this day.
Regime change would likely have achieved the mission of ending Iran’s nuclear program and limiting ballistic missile attacks and the sponsorship of terrorist proxies. The assault on Iran included the assassination of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other political and military leaders.
The intention: to decapitate the Iranian clerical government and make way for a citizen uprising and change of regime by the people of Iran.
That uprising never occurred.
Why did we think it would? Protesters were slaughtered in the streets by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. American citizens have the empowerment of our Constitution’s Second Amendment, but the people of Iran do not. They are unarmed and cannot stand up to the IRGC.
The most important development in the attack is Iran’s effective takeover of the Strait of Hormuz. Twenty percent of the world’s oil and up to one-third of the world’s seaborne fertilizer pass through the strait.
Now, Iran asserts the power to regulate shipping through the strait and attacks ships that do not have its permission. If this is allowed to continue, Iran will control the energy needs of many other countries.
Gas prices have spiked to as much as $6 a gallon in parts of the U.S. Seeing the impact at home, the U.S. sought a “ceasefire” and negotiated a preliminary “memorandum of understanding” that seemed to acknowledge that Iran can collect tolls after 60 days (and presumably forever after).
Iran’s nuclear program would not even be on the table until Israel stopped attacking Hezbollah in Lebanon. This provision divided the U.S. from its Israeli ally.
Fortunately, the memorandum of understanding has collapsed.
It is wrong to think of this war solely as a military exercise. This war, like all other wars, is a political exercise with strategic objectives, and the U.S. military is in service to them. Now, however, military force is the only tool the U.S. is using in Iran.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other leaders assert that the political goals of the war can be achieved by bombing Iran into submission. I am skeptical. I hope that military power alone is enough, but why not add other tools as well?
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has complained that Iran violates international law by attacking ships in the Strait of Hormuz. He wonders why anyone would fail to condemn Iran for its violation of international law.
Frankly, Mr. Rubio is right. Several actions in this conflict have been questionable under international law. Still, international law need not be an obstacle; it can be an asset to America’s political objectives. We must go back to international law, adhere to it and insist that Iran do the same.
I also propose adding a diplomatic initiative. President Trump should convene a conference of the nations of the world to call on Iran to surrender its aspirations to control the Strait of Hormuz and restore it to its proper status as an open waterway under international law.
That conference would rally the world to constrain Iran. Every nation has a stake in the global oil and fertilizer markets. No nation would choose to be held hostage by Tehran.
Iran never sought to control the Strait of Hormuz until this war began. Why not? Iran may have been unwilling to set itself against all the nations that depend on the strait being open. World opinion should matter to Iran now. The U.S. need not go it alone in opposition to Iran’s takeover of the strait.
An independent conference could be the best vehicle for the U.S. and all other nations with a stake in an open strait. A world conference could add a political tool for ending the war, which shows no sign of concluding through force alone.
Some nations might be reluctant to join the U.S., and some leaders might want to nurse their anger over prior insults. Nevertheless, nations do not make decisions based on personal pique but rather on their countries’ best interests. The U.S. should deploy its ambassadors and other diplomatic assets to set the stage for a global conference to protect all nations from Iran’s misconduct.
Some say that America needs no one. I say we are now engaged in a new world war, far beyond the Iran conflict. Alone, we may not win. We need friends, and, based on my experience, the U.S. has many.
Capturing the high ground is powerful in politics. This is an opportunity for American leadership. It puts the U.S. on the side of peace and security in the Middle East and beyond. The conference I propose might mark the end of this conflict and save us from the one ahead.
• James S. Gilmore III was U.S. ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe from 2019 to 2021. He was the 68th governor of Virginia.
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