The situation is back to square one. A tenuous peace pact that was supposed to halt the US-Iran war has fallen apart. Nations are back at war. President Trump warns he would finish off Iran as if he didn’t get enough time to do this over the past four months. Iran warns the US of disaster even as it could do no more than make a few hits into sensitive US interests in the nearby Gulf States. Millions of people are caught in the direct frame, and indirectly, the rest of the world – Americans included. The principal objective of the war, as stated by President Trump, was forcing a halt to Iran’s nuclear programme. Iran reasserted this week that it would not allow any external inspections on its nuclear facilities. This meant a dead end. The question is: what then was the “deal” fixed through the Pakistani mediators all about? Pakistan lost the sheen it built for itself.
Trump’s hidden agenda was obviously to lay his hands on Iran’s oil. The Supreme Council told Trump in unmistakable terms that this was his wishful thinking. In the guise of a ceasefire, the US was crafty enough to find time to rework its strategies vis-à-vis Iran. Winning this war is, for Trump and his Republicans, important to retain their credibility. Trump blew hot and cold, sending out confusing signals, as the war did not progress the way he had hoped. He squirmed in his chair even as the battle took the lives of over 7,000 hapless people and put the whole world in deep distress. Oil prices rose, fell and rose again. Inflationary trends made life difficult for Americans themselves. Nations like India, caught in between, faced the odds of this war. Modi, “the good friend,” felt slighted because he was not made a mediator—a role he would have cherished to salvage his diminishing reputation back home. Prices of items across the board rose in India — for inexplicable reasons. Traders built up a frenzy to make a clean cut.
By all outward appearances, it would still be difficult for the US to win this war. Iranians were preparing for this moment just as America was building its military muscles for action abroad. For the Americans, a war is a periodic requirement. They needed an opportunity to test their modern weapons of warfare. Afghanistan fell without a fight. In an extension of this awe, George Bush pounced on Iraq. Trump recently effected a change of regime in Venezuela without dropping any blood. Its president proved to be a sitting duck. In a ‘what next’, Iran opened up before Trump’s greedy eyes. Iran, once Persia and the crown jewel of the geographic region, knew the US would come to grab its oil sooner than later. Iranians were battle-ready. As Trump hesitates to risk deploying his troops on Iranian soil — what could be killing fields — Iran would perhaps have the last laugh.
