Deep into its third week, the war in Iran is beginning to chafe President Donald Trump’s wider foreign policy and domestic agenda. Trump, who is often immune from the types of repercussions other politicians typically face, now has his back against the wall as gas prices continue to rise, the global oil supply dwindles and lawmakers on Capitol Hill get increasingly antsy about why the United States needed to bomb Iran in the first place.
Based solely on military metrics, the United States has plenty of accomplishments to brag about. According to the Pentagon, Iranian ballistic missile launches are down by 90%. Iranian drone attacks have been reduced even more. Approximately 100 Iranian naval vessels have been destroyed, and it’s a safe bet more will be hit by the time this column goes to press. Kharg Island, where the vast majority of Iran’s crude oil is exported, is now in the Trump administration’s crosshairs as it seeks to strangle Tehran’s economy even further.
Yet nobody discounted the U.S. military’s might. Even the most die-hard anti-American cleric in the Iranian political system did not harbor illusions that Iran could defeat the United States in conventional ways. What Iran is able to do, however, is use asymmetric tactics to make the war as economically and politically painful for Trump as possible. Iran’s whole war strategy revolves around targeting the Persian Gulf’s energy facilities, deterring oil tankers from using the normally busy Strait of Hormuz and driving up energy prices so that Americans feel it in their wallets. That economic turbulence, the logic goes, would then create political problems for Trump at home with midterm elections less than eight months away.
Author
