Donald Trump now has a new proposed timetable for his war with Iran, albeit without a clear purpose. Heading to the Republicans’ midterm convention in Texas this week, the US president told reporters the war would end “immediately after the election”. This is coming from a president seven months into a conflict that he predicted would last only weeks.
For all that time, the US has been jostling with Iran for military and strategic control over the Strait of Hormuz while seeking to further degrade the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ military capabilities. But without strategic direction, victory is impossible and Iran’s leverage over the Strait allows it to keep defining the negotiating battlefield.
