Amid the pomp and pageantry in Beijing last week, U.S. President Donald Trump had hoped he could get Chinese President Xi Jinping to broker a peace deal between Washington and Tehran. It didn’t happen. China likely wants the war to end, too—as do most countries not named Russia. But Iran’s new leaders seem to be enjoying a game of chicken in which their opponent has long made it clear that he wants to chicken out.

Tehran is reading the same headlines we all are. And the evidence just keeps on growing that this war is disastrous for Trump. At this point, no matter how it ends, the pain for Trump, for the United States, and for the entire global economy will go on for some time. To what end?

Amid the pomp and pageantry in Beijing last week, U.S. President Donald Trump had hoped he could get Chinese President Xi Jinping to broker a peace deal between Washington and Tehran. It didn’t happen. China likely wants the war to end, too—as do most countries not named Russia. But Iran’s new leaders seem to be enjoying a game of chicken in which their opponent has long made it clear that he wants to chicken out.

Tehran is reading the same headlines we all are. And the evidence just keeps on growing that this war is disastrous for Trump. At this point, no matter how it ends, the pain for Trump, for the United States, and for the entire global economy will go on for some time. To what end?

Let’s start with what attacking Iran achieved. Key leaders, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, were killed. Iran’s air force and navy were decimated, and its ability to launch missiles was degraded. That’s where the gains end. The regime is still in place, with a younger and more vengeful new leader. A damning report from the New York Times, based on U.S. intelligence assessments, revealed that Iran still has 70 percent of its prewar missile stockpile, 70 percent of its mobile launchers, and operational access to more than 90 percent of its missile sites along the Strait of Hormuz. That final detail means that Iran can continue to disrupt traffic through the world’s most vital energy chokepoint at any point in the future. Tehran can also still attack Israel and U.S. allies in the Gulf with missiles. And, most strikingly, Iran still has a stash of highly enriched uranium. If one goal of the war was to ensure that Tehran could never develop a nuclear bomb, that objective has simply not been met.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Defense Department is counting its losses. An investigation by the Washington Post found that Iran has damaged 217 structures at 15 U.S. military sites in the Middle East.........

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