US Fails to Reach a Compromise with Iran

A ceasefire with Iran presupposes a negotiating process and the search for mutually acceptable compromises. Yet time is passing, and no solutions are in sight.

Iran Stiffens Its Stance

Through its capacity for resistance and its actions in the Strait of Hormuz, Iran in fact created a crisis on global energy markets and disrupted the uninterrupted export of oil from the key Arab states of the Persian Gulf — Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Kuwait.

Carrying out a rapid ground military operation by US and Israeli forces involving an invasion of Iranian territory in order to establish control over local energy infrastructure (for example, Kharg Island) and seize enriched uranium from underground facilities would, firstly, have been extremely complicated and offered no guarantee of success and, secondly, would have implied drawing a number of neighbouring states into the conflict with Iran (for example, Turkey, Azerbaijan, or Pakistan). The latter scenario had not been fully worked out by the Americans and invoked concerns among states neighbouring the Islamic Republic of Iran, particularly in light of Iran’s actions towards several Persian Gulf countries that had indirectly participated in the war on the side of the United States and Israel.

Within the United States itself, President Donald Trump has been facing negative sentiment towards his “Iranian adventure,” alongside a rapid decline in his approval ratings. At the same time, America’s NATO allies refrained from their own direct involvement in the conflict with Iran, including collective action to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Washington’s claims that Iran had been deprived of its defensive capabilities in terms of naval forces, missile systems, and unmanned aerial vehicles proved to be far removed from reality. It goes without saying that a month of air strikes inflicted considerable damage on the Iranian........

© New Eastern Outlook