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Former Trump Mideast envoy urges US control of Strait of Hormuz

On March 26, 2026, JNS, an English-language news service that covers Israel, published Former Trump Mideast envoy urges US control of Strait of Hormuz. Correspondent Etgar Lefkovits reported a video briefing by Jason Greenblatt, a White House Middle East envoy in President Donald Trump's first term. An American family should care because Greenblatt said that, without a deal, some American troops would have to go into Iran to take its enriched uranium. Enriched uranium is uranium processed so it can fuel a nuclear weapon. He was recommending that step.

Background for new readers: On 28 February 2026 the United States and Israel began a joint air war on Iran. The Pentagon calls its part Operation Epic Fury; Israel calls its part Operation Roaring Lion. It came eight months after a shorter war in June 2025, when US bombers hit Iran's nuclear sites at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan. The question running through this section is whether the air war turns into American soldiers fighting on Iranian soil. This article is filed under Israeli Press on US Ground Troops; the full article index lists every article on this shelf.

Evidence rating: MODERATE. JNS correspondent Etgar Lefkovits reports and quotes a named former White House envoy, Jason Greenblatt, speaking to the Jerusalem Press Club. The rating covers his quoted words.

What the article says​

Lefkovits wrote that Greenblatt spoke to the Jerusalem Press Club. The article's opening says Greenblatt told the club that the United States and its allies need control of the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow sea passage out of the Persian Gulf, in order to win the war. JNS says 20 percent of all traded oil and natural gas moves through that strait in peacetime. Greenblatt said Iran was demanding tolls and reparations. He said the president would never accept them.

The article's own summary says some ground troops would be necessary to secure Iran's highly enriched uranium if there is no deal. His quoted words describe a special-forces raid. In the JNS text, the words "nuclear material" are printed in brackets, as the outlet's explanation of what "that" refers to.

I know people are against boots on the ground, but I don't see how you can get that nuclear material if there is no deal without some sort of special force operation going to retrieve that nuclear material.

Jason Greenblatt, quoted by JNS, March 26, 2026. "Boots on the ground" means soldiers physically in the country.

He also said replacing Iran's government was not the main goal, and that it would have to come from Iranians themselves. According to JNS, he said: "If we try to enforce regime change, it won't be successful."

The rest of the briefing, as JNS reports it, was about Gulf states drawing closer to Israel and about Lebanon not disarming Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed armed group there.

What other reporting adds​

Others who said the same. Six weeks later, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told CBS's 60 Minutes the uranium "has to be taken out of Iran," and when asked how: "You go in, and you take it out." (CBS News transcript, 10 May 2026; research capture: twitter/t13__v145.md). On Hormuz, strategist Edward Luttwak argued in July that Trump should risk "deploying even a small number of troops to the desert islands in the Persian Gulf to secure its transits" (UnHerd on X, 29 July 2026; research capture: twitter/t50__v593.md).

The official line at the time. The day after Greenblatt spoke, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States could achieve its objectives "without any ground troops, without any" (see Rubio says US can achieve Iran objectives without ground troops). Greenblatt was a former official arguing against that line.

What it shows​

A former Trump envoy, speaking to the Jerusalem Press Club, said what the air war could not do: "I don't see how you can get that nuclear material if there is no deal without some sort of special force operation." The next day, Secretary of State Rubio said the aims could be met "without any ground troops." Six weeks later, Netanyahu said of the uranium "You go in, and you take it out," and in June CNN reported that a US ground mission to seize it had been prepared and then paused. The voice in Jerusalem, not the official line in Washington, was describing the plan. See Kharg Island and the Uranium Raid and No Boots on the Ground.

Check it yourself​

Status: Jason Greenblatt is alive. Donald Trump is alive.

Last Updated: 2026-09-26

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