Jul 09, 2026 16:12 pm IST

Opinion | Thanks To Trump, Saving The US-Iran Islamabad Deal Is Now Harder Than Ever

Neither side wants more war. But neither side seems able to stop itself from marching towards one.

Syed Zubair Ahmed Syed Zubair Ahmed Columnist

Syed Zubair Ahmed Columnist

Less than a month after the United States and Iran signed the agreement that was supposed to end the war in West Asia and create the basis for a wider deal, American warplanes are again pounding Iran. In response, Iran is attacking US-linked targets in the Gulf nations and threatening commercial shipping. Missiles and drones are flying across the Gulf and over the Strait of Hormuz. Oil prices have jumped, and the nervousness has returned to global markets.

At the NATO summit in Ankara, which concluded yesterday, President Donald Trump appeared to pronounce the last rites. "As far as I'm concerned, it's over," he said of the understanding with Iran.

Hours later, however, Trump was telling journalists aboard Air Force One that Iranian officials had called "just a little while ago" and wanted a deal "so badly". He was not sure, he added, whether they were "worthy" of one.

Welcome back to Donald Trump's televised, open diplomacy.

The latest escalation began after attacks on three commercial ships near the Strait of Hormuz, which Washington blamed on Iran. The American response was blistering. US Central Command says it hit around 80 Iranian military targets on Tuesday, followed by approximately 90 more in the next round of strikes in the early hours of Thursday. The latest attacks, it said, were aimed at further degrading Iran's ability to threaten commercial shipping and civilian mariners in the Strait of Hormuz.

'Bullying And Breaking Promises'

Iran is equally defiant. Its parliamentary speaker and chief US negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, says America has still not learnt that "bullying and breaking promises" are no longer cost-free. Iran's foreign minister has responded to Trump's insults by saying Tehran will answer not with vulgarity, but with action.

Explosions have been reported in Bahrain. Kuwait says it has intercepted missiles and drones. Qatar has issued a security alert.

This doesn't appear to be a small breach of a fragile ceasefire. West Asia is again climbing the escalation ladder. And yet, it would be premature to write the obituary of the Islamabad agreement.

Trump's latest words must, of course, be taken seriously. He is the President of the United States, which just celebrated its 250th birth anniversary with pomp and show of strength. In Ankara, he called Iran's leaders "scum"........

© NDTV