The United States and Iran are enmeshed in a no-war, no-peace deadlock that could easily escalate into an all-out war again should there be no major diplomatic breakthrough.

The war that the United States and Israel initiated against Iran on February 28 has mutated into a bruising war of attrition, which has oscillated between periods of armed conflict and bouts of negotiations in the last few months.

Since July 7, US forces have bombed Iran in a concerted air campaign aimed at breaking the impasse over the Strait of Hormuz. US air strikes have hit, among other targets, coastal defense systems, missile and drone sites and “maritime capabilities.”

“The strikes are designed to further degrade Iranian military capabilities used to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz,” the US Central Command said in a recent communique.

Iran has retaliated by firing ballistic missiles and drones at US bases and critical infrastructure in Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Jordan. These strikes have caused considerable damage and claimed the lives of several American soldiers and a small number of Arab civilians. Since February, 17 US troops have been killed and about 500 wounded.

“Iran likely calculates that sustained attacks and rising US casualties will generate domestic pressure on the United States to end the conflict, force (it) to surrender, and accept Iranian control over the strait,” says the Institute for the Study of War.

The ongoing battles have driven up the price of oil and natural gas, less than four months before midterm elections in the United States in November.

Israel has not been involved, but is ready to join the United States in striking Iran, which has been its most powerful enemy since the 1979 Islamic revolution. “We are prepared to immediately resume combat,” said Israel’s chief of staff, General Eyal Zamir, a few days ago.

On the other hand,........

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