Initiative may be slipping away from US and Israel as Middle East crisis deepens

An LPG gas tanker at anchor as traffic is down in the strait of Hormuz. Photograph: Benoît Tessier/Reuters

Few doubt that in the first days of the new war in the Middle East, the initiative belonged to the US and its ally Israel. Now it seems less sure, however.

Mohsen Rezaee, a senior officer in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, on Sunday said “the end of the war is in our hands” and called for the withdrawal of Washington’s forces from the Gulf and compensation for all damage caused by the assault.