‘Nobody else is responsible’: Trump to blame for Iran crisis, ex-CIA chief says

Leon Panetta calls president ‘naive’ over strait of Hormuz closure and says ‘the chickens are coming home to roost’

Donald Trump is stuck between “a rock and a hard place” after three weeks of war in Iran and “sending a message of weakness” to the world, Leon Panetta, a former US defence secretary and Central Intelligence Agency director, has told the Guardian.

Panetta, who served in the Bill Clinton and Barack Obama administrations, recalled that national security officials were always keenly aware of Iran’s ability to create an energy crisis by blocking the strait of Hormuz. That very scenario is now unfolding, leaving Trump with no exit strategy beyond wishful thinking.