Iran war turns into a test of wills – and timepublished at 20:00 BST
20:00 BST
Bernd Debusmann Jr
White House reporter
Not long ago, Trump penned a Truth Social post in which he said that time is not his “adversary” during the Iran war, and the ongoing efforts at a negotiated settlement.
In the post, external, Trump favourably compared the six weeks of Operation Epic Fury to previous longer US conflicts, including Iraq, Vietnam and both world wars.
It’s difficult, however, to compare military conflicts and their timelines.
Iraq is a prime example. While Trump correctly said that US military involvement there lasted over eight years, in 2003 the US military toppled Saddam Hussein’s government in about three weeks.
Just a few weeks later, then-President George W Bush famously declared “mission accomplished”, only for US forces to find themselves in an extremely messy counter-insurgency campaign with, at best, mixed results.
Trump campaigned specifically against this sort of protracted conflict abroad, which complicates matters for him politically.
Despite his comments, there is clearly a time factor at play. Americans are growing increasingly anxious about petrol prices, and Trump has repeatedly said he believes prices will go down very soon.
His own energy secretary, Chris Wright, has undermined this message, telling CNN on Sunday that it may take months to bring gas prices down. Trump has since said he believes Wright is incorrect.
Iran, for its part, will be hoping the cumulative domestic pressure of those hoping for low prices and a quick, clean end to the conflict will give it leverage at the negotiating table.
Trump believes that the threat of renewed strikes and a blockade-enforced economic stranglehold will pressure Iran to make a deal the US sees as positive.
The unanswered question then becomes: who will blink first?