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Scarborough: US allies ‘very positive’ about US blockade of Strait of Hormuz

by Ashleigh Fields - 04/15/26 7:01 PM ET

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by Ashleigh Fields - 04/15/26 7:01 PM ET

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MS NOW co-host Joe Scarborough on Wednesday said U.S. allies are reacting with a “very positive” attitude to the American blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

The Trump administration effectively closed the strait this week, blocking Iran from choosing which ships are allowed to pass through the critical choke point.

“There was a growing unease that the United States was going to get a bad deal in Islamabad. There was a growing unease that the president may come home, bring the troops home before getting the job done,” Scarborough said during the Wednesday segment of MS NOW’s “Morning Joe.”

“And they are actually very positive about the blockade and have signed on to what I am sure historians will long remember as the Haas plan. The Richard Haas plan, who 10 days ago started saying, ‘It’s all or nothing. You either let all of the ships go in and out of the strait or you let none of them go out,’” he added.

Richard Haas, president emerita of the Council on Foreign Relations and former special envoy to Northern Ireland, proposed an “Open for All or Closed to All” policy in early March in a Substack post that suggested the measure could “rally the world” as it poses a benefit to nearly all parties involved and not increase the damage or destruction of the war.

“To the contrary, it would be operationally far less demanding and dangerous to undertake than either the through-the-Strait tanker-protection option or Kharg Island occupation alternatives,” he wrote.

“Countries currently receiving energy from Iran — China, India, Pakistan, and Turkey — might well pressure Iran to desist from threatening the use of the Strait by others lest they be worse off. Iran would be further isolated if it refused,” he added.

After implementing the plan and insisting that the strait would soon be “permanently” reopened, Trump said his counterpart in Beijing was “very happy.”

Former State Department spokesperson John Kirby also said the blockade would help encourage China to urge Iran back to the negotiating table to end the pause on oil transports from the Middle Eastern region, which it relies upon heavily.

Trump said that talks between the U.S. and Iran could resume in a few days after they abruptly ended last week.

Scarborough said allies believe the dynamics of the Iran war have “changed radically,” noting that Tehran now understands they are going to have to eventually come to a deal.

The “Morning Joe” co-host added, “Economically, Iran was doing better, trading oil and moving their oil across the globe and getting good money for it than they had in years.”

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