Trump Calls Off Biggest Iran Strike Since WWII, Citing 7th Deal Push
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Aug 8
Trump Calls Off Biggest Iran Strike Since WWII, Citing 7th Deal Push
3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Aug 8
Summary
Trump said he canceled a “massive” attack on Iran last weekend—one he called the biggest since World War Two—after appeals from US allies and because he believed a deal was near.
Seven similar threat-and-retreat episodes have unfolded since the US joined Israel’s war on 28 February, yet no new agreement has emerged and the Strait of Hormuz remains closed.
14 clips compiled by CNN showed Trump repeatedly saying since March that Iran wanted peace, even as Tehran kept striking US and allied targets and a June ceasefire collapsed.
Analysts say the reversals reflect weak military options as much as diplomacy: Iran has improved its leverage, three US troops were killed in Jordan, and US missile and interceptor stocks are seen as depleted.
November’s midterms now frame the broader risk for Trump, with Iran specialists arguing his erratic threats expose a poor grasp of a regime that has survived 47 years of pressure.