The Iran war has reached its end: a costly stalemate.
Six months after US and Israeli forces attacked Iran, killing the supreme leader and maiming his son and successor, the Iranian government is under economic siege, but it still holds power and believes time is on its side.
US President Donald Trump’s threat to impose crippling new sanctions on Iran faces a fundamental problem: Tehran is betting that he will not take the final step to break the stalemate – aggressively imposing secondary sanctions on countries that are sustaining its economies, led by China and India.
Washington’s latest measures, announced on Monday, mark a new phase in the conflict that began on February 28, shifting the battlefield from missiles and air strikes to Iran’s oil revenues, banks and trading partners.
Treasury Secretary Scott Besent said the United States would cut off the financial lifelines that support Iran’s economy, while a US-led naval blockade restricts Tehran’s oil exports and access to hard currency.
“The (Trump) administration is desperately trying to find a way out of this situation,” said Aaron David Miller, a former US diplomat and senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment.
