ALL eyes in Pakistan must be on Iran because of the likely crippling consequences of an outbreak of hostilities between the US-Israel coalition and the Persian Gulf Islamic Republic, with millions here and abroad asking when and if Trump will pull the trigger.

Many analysts believe that the level of US military mobilisation ordered by President Donald Trump and the assembling of what he calls an ‘armada’ in the Gulf can’t be just to threaten or intimidate Iran but is actually part of preparations to attack it. Israel and its American supporters who have given Trump hundreds of millions of dollars in campaign funds apply their own pressure.

Despite its overwhelming technical, numerical and resource advantage, is American military might enough to deliver mass-scale destruction in Iran in the shortest possible time? Even if accompanied by, reportedly, hundreds, even thousands, of Mossad-CIA-MI6 (Israeli, US and UK) agents and operatives on the ground — all carefully cultivated, funded and armed to play fifth columnists? This is the question Trump must be addressing.

America’s appetite for either prolonged conflict or ‘boots on the ground’ is near zero, especially in Trump’s MAGA heartland. With mid-term Congressional elections due on Nov 3, a little over eight months away, the US president knows what making the wrong call on Iran could mean for the remainder of his term in office if his obedient-subservient Republicans lose their House majorities.

Iranian planners know they can’t win a war against the US. But they say they plan........

© Dawn