What Has Trump Achieved with the Iran War? Nothing, except that he gave Iran's Revolutionary Guard new opportunities to exert pressure. And the options Trump has to end this war are all bad.
The temporary truce between Iran and the United States is over, Donald Trump announced, after Washington again bombed targets in the Islamic Republic in recent days, and Tehran responded with strikes on American allies in the region.
All of Trump's Options Are Bad
Trump doesn't have many options, and they're all bad, Stephen Collinson commented on this in CNN. The American president must decide whether to continue escalating the war further, which will have a great human, economic and political cost for the United States, or to maintain the status quo, in which Iran holds the upper hand.
The war catalyzes the capabilities of Iran's Revolutionary Guard to use the Strait of Hormuz and trade routes through the Middle East as a means of pressure. According to most experts, a ground invasion is not yet on the agenda, but the possible intensification of attacks on civilian and energy targets in the country would cost a lot - both to the United States and the world.
Iran will respond with new attacks on energy and military targets in the region, and fuel prices will skyrocket. This, in turn, will have an even greater impact on the chances of Republicans in the US to retain control of both houses of Congress in the midterm elections in November.
The American president has failed to keep his promises
During his second term, Trump's approval rating fell to 34% - these values are record lows. He returned to the White House with a promise to end US military interventions in the world and concentrate on the country's economy, notes “Reuters”. Both goals “catastrophe” during this war.
“Trump found himself in a difficult position,” commented David Miller, a former US negotiator in the Middle East. "Whether militarily or diplomatically, it doesn't seem likely that he will be able to achieve much in Iran."
The Iranians are humiliating the American president, writes Tom Nichols in „The Atlantic". The so-called ceasefire that Trump announced in June never actually took effect. At the time, he declared: „We are dealing with people who I think are very rational. And it was nice to cooperate with them". And today Trump calls Iran's leaders „scum".
The United States entered this war without a strategy and still does not have one
Tehran is ready to escalate the war by striking neighboring countries and paying the price for the retaliation. The goal is for the regime to survive, and for Iran to maintain control of the Strait of Hormuz and preserve its nuclear program. The expectation is that the war will cost the US allies in the region too much, and sooner or later they will pressure the administration in Washington to end the attacks.
"It has become increasingly obvious that the US entered this war without a clear concept. They counted on the regime in Tehran to fall quickly, with Trump and his Defense Secretary Pete Hegsett ignoring years of military and intelligence data," Nichols also writes.
During the NATO summit in Ankara, the US president was unable to articulate his policy and strategy. Instead, he once again spoke about his claims to Greenland, confused Iran with Japan, Zelensky with Putin, and called TikTok "TikTok". The impression is obvious that control is slipping out of Trump's hands, who has been trying for years to build the halo of the strong leader that the world needs.