Sanctions and bombs won’t end the war in Iran. Trump is running out of options against an intractable foe

President Donald Trump has entangled the United States in a war of choice with Iran that he cannot easily win or quit.

The war was meant to be what Trump called “ a little excursion ” that would be over within a few weeks.

But it is now into its seventh month, with no end in sight.

Trump has said he is willing to let the conflict continue for as long as needed to force Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz (which was open to free navigation before the war) and negotiate a deal over its nuclear program (even though experts say Iran was not on the verge of developing a weapon before the war).

The two sides are now in a dangerous limbo, with periodic outbreaks of fighting.

They traded strikes this week , with the US targeting Iran’s Larak island and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) retaliating with attacks on US bases in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates.

Meanwhile, there are no real negotiations toward finding a peaceful resolution to the conflict.

Repeated claims of victory In starting the war in late February, primarily at the instigation of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump and his secretary of defence, Pete Hegseth, repeatedly said it would not be long and costly.

They were very damning of previous American leaders for miring the US in the long wars.

But Trump acted in a strategic vacuum.

His administration underestimated the resilience and preparedness of the Iranian regime to counter the US threat.

It also did not foresee Iranian society coalescing in the face of outside aggression.

Even so, Trump repeatedly claimed military triumph, proclaiming Iran’s defensive capabilities had been destroyed and the US had pummelled Iran into accepting a peace deal .

But this was premature.