The fighting has spread to many countries in the Middle East, North Africa and the Gulf region, but mainly still between the US and Israel with Iran. No country has been seen fighting with one side or the other. The US is increasing aid to the area near Iran and providing military aid to Israel. Israel is simultaneously conducting combat in Lebanon.
US President Donald Trump expressed his determination to subdue Iran at all costs and confidently said he would win by asking Iran to surrender unconditionally, threatening that Iran would suffer terrible things and even demanding that the US have the right to jointly decide on the Iranian Supreme Leader. Iran continued to respond very strongly to the US and Israel. However, the election of the new Supreme Leader has not yet been completed. The world economy and trade have begun to be negatively affected.
Up to now, Iran has been damaged but still shows its ability to respond and retaliate, causing very heavy damage to the US and Israel. The longer the war lasts, the greater and more complicated the difficulties will naturally become for Iran. The US and Israel have achieved some goals but have not been able to change the political state regime in Iran and force Iran to abandon its nuclear and missile programs.
The fact that the two sides continue to engage in fierce fighting and the increase in fighting has pushed both sides very far. Therefore, it is now very difficult to "turn back" without damaging face and reputation, or being considered weaker than the opponent.
If Iran is forced to continue fighting to the end, both the US and Israel currently do not have a clear strategy to get out of the war. This raises concerns that they may repeat the mistakes of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq more than 2 decades ago.
As long as they have not defeated Iran militarily and have not built a safe exit, the US and Israel are likely to continue to increase military pressure.Not only targeting Iran, the campaign also extends to forces in the region considered Tehran's "extended arm" such as Hamas, Hezbollah or the Houthi forces in Yemen.
The US and Israel last week were surprised by Iran's fierce response as well as the actual losses.However, they seem to believe that Iran is gradually running out of resources, especially military capabilities, so it is unlikely to continue to hold out against new attacks.
This war is therefore not only decisive for Iran's political future but also for Israel's future and the US's world political role. It also determines the political fate of both President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the upcoming congressional elections in the US and Israel.
The longer the war lasts, the greater the difficulties for Mr. Trump and Mr. Netanyahu will be because the economic, military and financial burden will become greater. The risk of getting bogged down in all aspects in the confrontation with Iran will increase. Internal political opinion in the US will become more disadvantageous for Mr. Trump and the Republican Party. So if Mr. Netanyahu is not ready to stop, then Mr. Trump will sooner or later have to take advantage of every opportunity to end this war, instead of prolonging it indefinitely.
