Richard Haass

It's not, again, a blockade as a means to an end, not as an end.

We're not trying to do this against China.

And indeed, we're willing to work with Iran.

So I would sit down with China.

And my guess is China has a real incentive to open up the strait.

So I don't think it's inevitable that this puts China and the United States on a collision course, literally.

And

And figuratively, but I'd obviously consult with them beforehand.

I don't know if we did.

I fear we didn't.

But I would have sent, you know, that's why you have ambassadors and emissaries.

I would have sent one to all the countries directly affected to get them to lean on Iran to explain what you're doing and why.

The other thing I would have done is I would have gotten other countries to join us.

I would have talked to the Europeans and the Japanese and the Koreans, other countries that depend on the oil.

There's no reason this has to be a U.S.-Iran thing.

This should be a collective thing.

100%.

And allow me a digression for a minute.

It's one of the reasons I think this war was so ill-advised because the Achilles heel of Iran was its economy.

As you correctly said, Anthony, that's why people were coming out in the streets.