Ever since the United States and Iran signed a ceasefire to suspend hostilities and explore a diplomatic way out of the conflict, the Middle East has been on tenterhooks.
The mystery and suspended animation have only been compounded by President Donald Trump’s tendency to blurt out to the media whatever he’s thinking. On some days, Trump insists a deal to end the war is only a matter of days or even hours. On other days, he’s angry about the state of talks and threatening to resume the bombing if the Iranians don’t blink on sending their stockpile of enriched uranium out of the country. One hour, Iran’s leaders are “nuts”; the next, they’re “rational.”
The 24 hours between Sunday and Monday made an already puzzling situation even more head spinning. Iran and Israel, which stopped attacking each other in early April, resumed their volleys of fire, putting the entire diplomatic process at risk. After Israel bombarded Hezbollah infrastructure in southern Beirut in retaliation for the Lebanese terrorist group’s rocket fire into northern Israel, the Iranian military responded by launching dozens of ballistic missiles into Israel. The missiles did little damage, but the Iranian attack nevertheless put extreme pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to hit Tehran militarily. One man who didn’t want Israel to pull the trigger again was Trump, who called Netanyahu and urged him to hold his fire. It didn’t work; the Israeli air force bombed Iranian petrochemical facilities and air defenses. For a moment, Trump looked like he was merely a spectator to his own war of choice.
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