The Iran war has stagnated. The two sides are in a state of pervasive attack and defence without causing a change in position, physically, politically or diplomatically, or what would constitute altering behaviour. Iran and Israel attack each other in situ and defend against it to the best of their remaining capability. True, people lose lives and businesses, and infrastructure will be rebuilt, but there is no substantive change in how these nations are constituted or think. Welcome to the 'trench warfare' of the modern era.

The last time the world experienced this was in World War I, or later in the Iran-Iraq War. Both exhausted themselves to the point of inability to do much beyond where they were, waiting to be disentangled. In the ongoing war, they are in their last 'oomph' in the hope that the other guy will exhaust first. They, and the world, do not deserve a war with non-existent or fleeting political objectives, and where the mission creeps in search of an off-ramp.

The ongoing Iran war has no political aims on either side, save Israel. For Iran, defiance, and an implicit sense of showing the aggressor down would be the popular refrain. Three weeks into it, they must have a sounder political reason to continue. The thousands who perish may be a small number by their count to sacrifice for the larger aim of national honour and dignity, but it is as important to give the living the same honour and dignity, and a chance at a fulfilling life.

Equally, the infrastructure and the progress that Iran has made despite the most stringent sanctions are going to waste because the leadership may hold other motives dearer. The Iranian people remain at the receiving end in the name of........

© The Express Tribune