ILOS ANGELES (OC).–ran shot down an Apache helicopter with two U.S. soldiers aboard, luckily rescuded in the Strait of Hormuz by a drone, the first such rescue in U.S. history. President Donald Trump didn’t hesitate to respond striking Iranian costal radar posions used by the Republican Guard Corps to track commercial ships in the Hormuz Strait. Iran said it would respond in kind, most likely planning attacks at U.S. bases in Arab Gulf State. Arab Gulf State hoped that Trump would go the way of diplomacy, something he’s done since the April 17 ceasefire. But Trump has watched Iran ignore any peace overtures, realizing now that he’s dealing with terrorist state that thinks nothing to striking innocent commercial ships trying to transit a global waterway, something Iran thinks is part of its sovereign territory. President Trump has become fed up with the diplomacy out of Islamabad.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has practically stood on his head to get Trump to refrain from restarting the war, largely to protect Arab Gulf States from Iran’s retaliatory strikes. “There were two pilots involved, both are seafe and uninjured,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. Both airman were rescued by a U.S. navy drone boat, the first kind of rerscue in U.S. history. Trump said he would not let the Iranian attack go unpunished but it’s not clear how the tit-or-tat attack between Iran and the U.S. will every stop. Iran promised it would respond quickly, most likely striking targets in Arab Gulf States. Trump find himself in an unending war with Iran, where Iran has decided to take on the U.S. .military to save face, eventhough Iran loses more military infrastructure every time the U.S. and Israel bomb keep military targets.
Trump doesn’t have a plan how to end the over 100-day conflict where both sides look reluctant to go all out in escalating the war. Trump wants to end the war through diplomacy but doesn’t have a peace partner with Iran. Iran vacillates between ending the war and continue to tak on the U.S., humiliating Trump anyway possible. Iran’s mullah government is now run by the IRGC, with the civilians leadership replaced by the military. Iran’s new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei has not been seen in public after his injuries from the Israeli strike that killed his father, the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. With the IRGC controlling the military, there’s little progress in peace talks, largely because Iran wants sovereign control of the Strait of Hormuz, something Trump won’t let happen. Iran also wants Trump to pay war reparations, another non-starter for peace talks.
Keeping tit-for-tat strikes going gives neigher side a way to win the war. Iran can keep the conflict going indefinitely by blockading the Strait of Hormuz, causing havoc in global shipping, driving up the price of oil and creating shortages of jet fuel, natural gas and helium. Some 20% of the worlds oil supply and fertilizer passes through the Hormuz Gulf, continuing to creat chaos in world energy markets. Trump looks content to outlast Iran by maintaining his blockdade on Iranian ports, preventing Iran from delivering its products to global customers. But whether the Iranian economy or currency is in tatters, it gives Iran global leverage by keeping the war going, letting the world see that it still has the firepower to go up against the United States. J Trump must figure out a way to to end the conflict, something that requires a massivuse of force on Iran’s energy infrastructure.
Trump has come to a fork in the road with Iran, knowing diplomacy isn’t going to reach a political settlement, with both sides making demands unacceptable to the other party. Iran wants sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz and reparations from the U.S., something that won’t happen under Trump. Trump wants Iran to surrender its 1,000 60% urainium stockpile, something Iran hold on to as a matter of national pride. Barring any breakthrough, Trump faces some tough choices knowing he’d prefer to take the path of diplomacy. Whatever depletion to the U.S. arsenal, there’s plenty of munitions left to do massive damage to Iran’s military and infrastructure. Only by facing annihilation will Iran likely budge on any of its current demands. So, when it comest \to doing things the hard way, Trump has run out of options if he really wants to end the over 100-day conflict.
Iran has strung Trump along the phony diplomacy route for too long, delaying the inevitable to taking out Iran’s energy infrastructure. Without refineries, storage facilities or docks, Iran has no way to deliver its product to market. Iran looks perfectly content for now to string Trump along with tit-for-tat military actions. Iran doesn’t want to end the war because it makes the U.S. look like a paper tiger, unable to finish the job. Trump has been asked by Arab Gulf allies to finish off the mullah regime in Tehran. Whether the mullah regime runs the country now is anyone’s guess. Looks like Trump faces the IRGC who’s seized control of the Iranian government. No amount of diplomacy or logic can deal with a terrorist state hell-bent on advancing its terrorist agenda. Controlling the Strait of Hormuz has left Trump no choice what he has to do now.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
