Israel and Iran announced yesterday that they are ceasing hostilities after US President Donald Trump called on both sides to "cease fire", although Tehran said it would resume its strikes if Israel continued to carry out attacks against the pro-Iranian Shiite armed movement "Hezbollah" in Lebanon, BTA reports.
The series of attacks between Israel and Iran over the past two days marks the sharpest confrontation between the two countries since the start of the ceasefire in April, threatening to derail Trump's efforts to reach a lasting agreement with Tehran and at the same time straining relations between Washington and Jerusalem. It is the divergent goals of the US and Israel, as well as the increasingly weakened position of the American president in the Middle East, that are the leading topics in Western publications today.
Great Britain
“Who is in charge? Trump and Netanyahu clash over their divergent goals in the Middle East war“ headlines the British publication “Financial Times“.
Israel confuses Donald Trump's plans for Iran, states the “Economist“ in its editorial. For nearly 12 hours on June 7, hostilities between Israel and Iran erupted after the two countries exchanged missile strikes. There was a tense lull after Donald Trump insisted, rather unconvincingly, that “both sides, Israel and Iran, are seeking an immediate CEASEFIRE!“. The US president is reluctant to resume the war, given that the US and Israel have been fighting together against Iran for 40 days, leading to an ongoing blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and a surge in global energy prices.
All of this presents Trump with a dilemma. He has already tried and failed to force a ceasefire on Israel - both in Lebanon and Iran. He has taken Jerusalem out of talks with Tehran, which are being brokered by Pakistan and others, but the tactic of abandoning his military ally has not worked. After Iran's latest attack, the president said Netanyahu would have no choice but to accept any deal he made with Iran: "I'm in charge, not him," Trump told the Financial Times. Yet Netanyahu kept firing.
Germany
Trump is at his weakest point - the Israeli-Iranian ceasefire violation shows how the situation is slipping out of Trump's control, the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung wrote in an editorial.
American presidents have made mistakes in the Middle East before, but the way the situation is slipping out of Trump's control is rare. Yesterday he had to publicly call on his ally and negotiating partner to stop the mutual shelling. It seems that Trump does not have full control over Netanyahu, as he himself claims, and the Iranians again feel strong enough to go on the offensive with their shadowy armies.
Even with the violation of the ceasefire, however, the status quo has not changed - Netanyahu wants to neutralize the threat coming from Iran through “Hezbollah“, and the Iranian regime wants to survive and maintain its regional leverage. Trump, for his part, wants to end the war as quickly as possible. Paradoxically, for a world power, he is currently in the weakest position. For domestic political reasons, he cannot impose his goals with full military power and is in a hurry to deal with everything before the congressional elections. Once again, it is clear what can be achieved against America with an asymmetric war, the German newspaper concludes.
USA
“Trump wants to be in charge, but in Iran he constantly encounters the limits of his capabilities“, the “New York Times“ headlines. President Trump is struggling with his own crisis in the Middle East, which his predecessors also faced and which he himself promised to avoid. President Trump's political career has been characterized by demonstrations of superiority and control, but in the Middle East he faces a prolonged crisis that thwarts these aspirations.
Trump has struggled to contain Netanyahu's attacks on Iran, and the concession in the phone call the US president had with the Israeli prime minister shows his weakening control over military action, commented the “Wall Street Journal“. While Benjamin Netanyahu was considering how to respond to waves of Iranian missile attacks, President Trump called with a message of “Do not attack“. However, when it became clear that the Israeli leader would not hesitate to attack directly, Trump changed his tone. “Restrain and do not allow the situation to escalate“, the US president urged, according to representatives from his entourage.
Trump hoped to control the escalation of the conflict so that it could not prevent the conclusion of a peace agreement with Tehran. His efforts to deter Israeli retaliation highlight the difficulties that arise when Israel and the United States' priorities diverge sharply, especially on Lebanon.
France
Donald Trump is trying to save peace talks with Iran, says an editorial in the French newspaper “Figaro“. One hundred days after the start of the conflict, the American president sees that the already fragile ceasefire is again at risk of escalating into a new large-scale regional war, after Iran and Israel exchanged direct strikes.
There is a danger of renewed war in the Middle East. Never before has the ceasefire, in effect since April 8, been so threatened with complete disruption, given the direct attacks between Israel and Iran for the first time in a month.