Trump threatens return to war as Iran stalemate drags on - National & International News -

Trump threatens to return to war as stalemate with Iran drags on

President Trump said today that he had received a new peace proposal from Iran via Pakistani mediators, but says the terms outlined are “things I can’t agree to”. Trump also threatened to “blast them away” if negotiations do not go his way. There are no details of what terms were in this proposal, and Tehran has not even confirmed dispatching any new proposal.

In recent weeks, the Iranians have repeatedly insisted that the future of the Strait of Hormuz must be settled and the US blockade lifted before they would discuss any other issues (including nuclear enrichment). US officials have said that this is unacceptable.

Who will “cry uncle” first?

President Trump recently said that the way for the Hormuz standoff to end is for Iran to “cry uncle” and “give up”. He insisted that Iran’s economy is “dead” because of the US blockade on its oil exports. The scenario Trump is setting up is a waiting game to see which side blinks first.

Media reports have also recently emphasized the economic pain felt in Iran. It is true that halting most of Iran’s oil exports deprives them of some funds. However, during the weeks after the war started, Iran’s oil exports made more money than they ever had previously. Additionally, much of the economic strife in Iran was ongoing before the war and was the cause of weeks of deadly protests. Decades of harsh and unpredictable Western sanctions have also forced Iran to find workarounds to be more resilient to sudden adverse changes.

Part of the reasoning behind the US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz is the belief that blocking Iranian oil exports for long enough would do severe and possibly permanent damage to Iran’s oil infrastructure and force them to capitulate. So far, this has not proved to be the case. US strategists seem to have made faulty assumptions about Iran’s capacity to store oil and certain other technical aspects of their infrastructure.

Contrasting this with the situation in the US, Americans are facing the highest gas prices in years. These prices are only going to climb higher as the showdown drags on and will affect the prices of practically everything consumers buy. The war also remains overwhelmingly unpopular with Americans while Iranians see this conflict as existential and are thus more willing to endure hardship.

Trump once again asks allies for help with reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

Israel facing its own unemployment crisis as a result of their multifront military aggressions.