WASHINGTON (AP) — Facing jittery global markets and drooping domestic poll numbers since the US and Israel launched a war with Iran, US President Donald Trump has cycled from calls for “unconditional surrender” to sounding amenable to an end state in which Iran trades one hardline ayatollah for another.

Shifting comments from the president and his top aides are adding to the precariousness of the 13-day-old conflict, which began with US-Israeli strikes on the Iranian regime on February 28 and is impacting nearly every corner of the Middle East and causing economic tremors around the globe. With neither side budging, the war is now on an unpredictable path and a credible endgame is unclear.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday it was up to Trump “whether it’s the beginning, the middle or the end” of the war.

Trump, during the course of one speech at a House Republican gathering Monday, went from calling the war a “short-term excursion” that could end soon to proclaiming “we haven’t won enough.”

“We have hit them harder than virtually any country in history has been hit, and we’re not finished yet,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Wednesday.

The vacillation has fueled criticism from those who say Trump lacks a clear goal. “They didn’t have a plan,” Senator Mark Kelly, a Democrat from Arizona, told reporters. “They have no timeline. And because of that, they have no exit strategy.”

Israel’s leaders, for their part, have said they are committed to the fight. On Wednesday, Defense Minister Israel Katz said, “The operation will continue without any time limit.”

Since ordering the Iran bombardment, Trump has continually shifted his timelines and goals for the war.

Over the past few days, Trump has called for the “unconditional surrender” of Iran’s leaders, while suggesting he had already succeeded in achieving his objective of decimating Iran’s military.

At the same time, Trump’s team has sought to soothe anxious Americans that the war will not be long and drawn out even as the president has insisted he has not ruled out the option of using US ground troops.

The US military says it has effectively destroyed the Iranian navy and made huge strides in defanging Iran’s ability to launch missiles and drones at its neighbors. Yet the critical Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly 20% of the world’s oil passes on a typical day,........

© The Times of Israel