Trump-Bibi’s war on Iran has gone awry

Donald Trump along with Benjamin Netanyahu sparked one of the worst oil crises in decades to have hit the global economy, and his team of sycophants doesn’t have a clear plan to fix it.While Trump believed his war against Iran will be won with sheer military might, much like Maduro’s abduction and striking a deal with Delcy, Iran had a different idea. To begin with, the regime seemed unaffected by the murder of the 86 year old Ali Khamenei, and along with the IRGC, seems totally in control. In an act of defiance, it has now anointed Mojtaba, senior Khamenei’s son as its supreme leader.

Iran aims to force America to back off by increasing the economic cost to the U.S. and its allies beyond the point Trump and American voters can bear. Iran is gearing up to fight a drawn-out war by inflicting economic pain on US and Israel.America is now getting a taste of what that pain will feel like. The effective closure of a critical oil transit point, the Strait of Hormuz, sent oil prices surging to their highest point since 2022, before retreating in a day of volatile trading. A prolonged war could revive inflation and hammer U.S. economic growth, and even recession.

 Trump has been vague and contradictory about his aims in the war. At times, he seems to push for overthrowing Iran’s theocracy; other times, he seems to be willing to stop short of that, saying broadly that he wants to ensure Iran is no longer a threat to Israel, the region and the US interests. Trump even suggested a replacement to Mojtaba whom he considers unacceptable. Netanyahu and his hard-line Zionists described him as next target in its campaign.

The younger Khamenei, has long been viewed by analysts as being even more hard-line than his father, with close ties to the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.Also, Iran still has its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, one reason for the war that Israel and the US have both pointed to. Iran had been enriching up to 60 per cent purity, a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90 per cent.

The US bombed three Iranian nuclear sites in June during the 12-day war between Israel and Iran, likely burying much of the stockpile in the debris. Those sites to this day remain out of the reach of international inspectors.  Mojtaba Khamenei could issue a religious ruling, or fatwa, reversing his father’s earlier statements and ordering it to be used to make a weapon. So ultimately, Trump and Bibi’s war on Iran has gone totally awry.