On Monday after meeting with the Qatari Prime Minister, President Trump declared the Iran war is “effectively over.” As always, he did add a caveat, saying the United States remains “locked and loaded.”
With any other President, we might conclude that the war against Iran is over. But Trump isn’t like any other President
Reasonable people might discern that is this just another pause before the storm. Is President Trump merely buying his time until his formidable three-carrier naval armada is fully operational and surrounding Iran? What about the war that’s consuming the Gulf States, particularly Saudi Arabia?
Trump now is echoing Vice President JD Vance’s claim that the war was one of four reasons why Republicans lost the midterm elections. In his 60 Minutes interview the President said, “I don’t disagree” with the vice president’s diagnosis for why the Republicans lost the midterms.
And it’s not a secret that Stephen Miller, the new White House Chief of Staff, is known for his general opposition to the war with Iran.
Behind Vance is also the anti-Israel and anti-war Tucker Carlson, who triumphantly stated on election night: “This is the end of the Trump era last night. We’re done.”
Further, Republican Rep. Thomas Massie – who despises Trump – is leading Democrats in the House to force an impeachment vote of Pentagon Secretary Pete Hegseth. That effort is expected to fail, but it highlights the growing anti-war sentiment rolling through the nation’s capital even before the Democrats become a majority in Congress.
Negotiations with Iran appear to be going nowhere. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has publicly stated that they aren’t even close to a breakthrough. He described Tehran’s recent conditions as “outrageous and ridiculous and really not realistic.”
In Paris at the G7 Summit, Rubio told our Allies today that the administration is still open for a “real deal,” but added Tehran is seeking terms that are “absurd.”
Further complicating the prospects of war is Israel. The country is in the throes of political uncertainty that won’t be resolved for at least six weeks. If Trump pulls the trigger and restarts the war will the head of the Israeli government be hawkish Benjamin Netanyahu or Israel’s left wing?
Adding to the intrigue, on Monday a Russian Tupolev military aircraft operated by Russia’s Defense Ministry landed in Israel. It appears the Russians decided to have an unusual and almost unprecedented stopover in Israel while enroute to Abu Dhabi where Ukrainian negotiations are underway. A Russian aircraft has not landed in Israel since 2003.
It appears that Russian Admiral Igor Kostyukov, the chief of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (the GRU) is the leader of the Russian delegation.
What did Kostyukov tell the Israelis? Are they threatening Israel or sending a peace overture? So far no one is talking.
In the midst of all of this, there is the reality of Iran’s continuing military aggression.
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