Tehran isn’t scared of endless US threats, and won’t make concessions. Gaza and Lebanon deals are somewhat more promising, but leave plenty of room for terror groups to survive.
With Iran openly targeting US soldiers and asserting its right to control the Strait of Hormuz, many believed over the weekend that US President Donald Trump had — at long last — reached the end of his rope. “US, Israel preparing to bombard energy-related targets in Iran,” CBS Newsdeclared on Saturday. Israeli outlets reported that Jerusalem was on its “highest alert,” expecting Iran to respond to the looming massive strike by hitting the Jewish state for the first time in months.
But then Trump backed down once again, claiming that Iran had suddenly agreed to make far-reaching concessions its leaders have said consistently that they would never so much as consider. Tehran quickly denied this. On Gaza, too, the White House and its Board of Peace are placing all their hopes on an agreement — this one to disarm Hamas. And in Lebanon, a US-backed plan to assert control by Beirut crawls forward, but it is entirely unclear how the agreement will actually lead to Hezbollah giving up its weapons.
And so the Middle East, and particularly Israel, is trapped in inconclusive conflicts that are suspended by Trump’s apparent belief, or hope, that a signature on a two-page agreement means a terrorist group will abandon decades-long religious commitments to violence against the US and Israel, or that Iran will budge on what it sees as its core interests. Back on Friday, Trump had said that he was “losing faith” in Iran after the Islamic Republic fired missiles at US troops in Jordan while — at least according to the president — the sides were in the middle of negotiations. (Read More)
