Jamie Dimon says the U.S. was right to go to war with Iran: ‘Why the western world put up with all these proxy wars for 45 years is kind of beyond me’

The U.S.-Israeli campaign in Iran has been criticized as a war of choice, one with an unclear strategy and even more uncertain target outcomes. But for one of Wall Street’s leading financial chiefs, the choice to wage war in the Middle East may actually have been an unavoidable one.

Now in its second month, the war has exposed the extent to which global energy and financial markets rely on stability in the Middle East. Shortly after the incursion began, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard began warning ships to steer clear of the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that once allowed one fifth of globally traded oil and natural gas supplies to leave the Persian Gulf. The strait has been under an effective blockade ever since, sending oil prices surging and leaving markets jittery. 

The closure has created “uncertainty” and “short-term risks” for the world economy, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said during an interview with Axios aired Wednesday. The current state of the campaign may not have been part of President Donald Trump’s original war plan, given that he was reportedly surprised by Iran’s quick move to weaponize the strait. But Dimon also asked a different question, wondering why the U.S. and its allies accepted the risk of a hostile regime controlling the shores of the global economy’s most important chokepoint for as long as they did.

“Having those folks, their throat on the Strait of Hormuz, and funding all these proxy wars. Why the western world put up with all these proxy wars for 45 years is kind of beyond me,” Dimon said.

The Iranian regime has existed since a revolutionary upheaval in 1979 that replaced the U.S.-backed........

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