Iran War Involves Three Key Time-Based Military Elements

US President Donald Trump’s diplomatic approach in the ongoing conflict with Iran has been marked by a 60-day deadline, which expired without achieving regime collapse. The US is now engaged in a war of attrition, with time on its side.

Iran, meanwhile, is operating under a different timeline, prioritizing endurance over swift victory. The country’s vast landmass and dispersed military assets make it challenging to weaken decisively through rapid strikes.

Professor John Mearsheimer has stated that Trump committed a significant blunder in his approach. The structural issue lies in Iran’s control over the global economy through the Strait of Hormuz, allowing it to maintain leverage over Gulf states and Israeli air defenses. This has left the US without a clear exit strategy.

The domestic impact is evident, with crude oil prices rising past $90 per barrel and inflation climbing at an annual rate of 3.3 percent in March. Trump’s approval rating on the economy has hit an all-time low of 29 percent.

Iran’s calculus is also time-sensitive, but inverted. The regime’s survival strategy relies on sustaining a prolonged confrontation to wear down Washington’s domestic clock. Economist Jeffrey Sachs has argued that the conflict was strategically illiterate from the start, with Trump ripping up existing agreements and killing the Iranian religious leader who had declared nuclear weapons contrary to Islamic law.

The ongoing war is expected to continue until Trump’s term ends in January 2025, seven months before the midterm elections. The conflict’s impact on US politics and Iran’s strategy will be closely watched as oil prices hover above $100 and potentially reach $150.

Source: Al Jazeera