When the United States and Israel jointly went to war with Iran on February 28, President Donald Trump predicted that the conflict would last from three to five weeks. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not commit himself to a deadline, preferring to keep his options open.

Almost six weeks on, there is no end in sight to the war. Iran has proven to be a resilient enemy capable of absorbing enormous pain and of fighting back.

Iran has been hammered relentlessly by a barrage of air strikes. Israel, the U.S.’ junior partner, has dropped 15,000 bombs on Iran since the start of the war, according to Defence Minister Israel Katz and General Eyal Zamir, the chief of staff of the Israeli armed forces. Israel’s bombing campaign is far more intense than it was during Operation Rising Lion, its first war with Iran in June 2025.

Nevertheless, Iran is still firing ballistic missiles and drones at Israel, the Arab Gulf states and Jordan, causing considerable damage to residential neighborhoods, industrial sites and military bases. Iran’s proxies, Hezbollah, the Houthis and Iraqi Shi’a militias, are busy attacking Israel and American forces in Iraq.

Two days ago, in an illustration of Iran’s gumption, an Iranian missile shot down an F-E15 fighter jet, the first U.S. combat aircraft to be downed during the war. On the same day, an A-10 Warthog plane assisting in the rescue of the F-15 crew crashed into the Persian Gulf.

In another calculated act of defiance, Iran has taken control of the Strait of Hormuz, an international waterway through which 20 percent of the world’s oil supply passes. Iran’s seizure of the strait is astonishing in light of the fact that its navy has been virtually destroyed. Iran seized the strait to keep energy prices high enough to compel Trump to call a halt to the war. In the meantime, Iran has imposed hefty tolls on ships transiting through the strait.

Trump claims that Iran is desperate for a ceasefire. But Iranian officials stoutly deny his unsubstantiated assertion and insist that Iran will not negotiate with the United States under duress unless it ends its military campaign and promises not to restart it. Iran has........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)