On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump declared that the United States would be attacking Iran again that same day, complaining that Tehran keeps playing America for suckers, even as he insisted the deal was “fully negotiated.” Hours earlier he had said Iran took too long to negotiate and would now “pay the price,” floating fresh strikes on its power plants and bridges.

It all landed in the middle of the bloodiest week since the ceasefire took hold. Iran had fired a wave of missiles at Israel. Israel had struck back, including a hit on a Hezbollah command center in the southern suburbs of Beirut.

An American Apache helicopter had gone down near the Strait of Hormuz after colliding with an Iranian drone. The United States had retaliated against Iranian air defenses, and Iran had answered overnight by striking US assets in Bahrain, Kuwait, and Jordan. The region was trading blows again. And the man at its center announced, once more, that the wolf was coming.

He has announced it many times before. That is the problem.

A calendar of warnings

Since the war opened in late February, Trump has run the conflict by deadline. The cadence has been remarkably consistent. An ultimatum, a threat to obliterate Iranian infrastructure, a wave of fear across the markets and the chancelleries, and then, near the appointed hour, a pause.

In late March he suspended a planned strike on Iran’s energy plants for ten days while talks were said to be going very well. In April he warned........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)