Iran has emerged stronger after the United States and Israel started a war on February 28th of this year. Now that the conflict appears to be winding down, the US has taken a beating while Iran is visibly the winner in all ways that matter.
The US didn’t achieve a single stated military goal of the war. Sure, the Strait of Hormuz will reopen, but it was open before the joint US-Israel attack that kicked off the fighting.
None Of The Most Important Issues Have Been Resolved By The Memorandum Of Understanding
Iran is already aware of this fact, too. Rulers in the country have called the memorandum of understanding (MoU) a “record of US failure.”
Iran Declares Memorandum of Understanding A “Record of US Failure”
Geopolitical analyst Brandon Weichert agrees. While speaking on RT’s Sanchez Effect on Tuesday, Weichert, senior editor at The National Interest, described the conflict as a “non-deal deal for a non-war war,” arguing that Washington had failed to achieve any meaningful strategic gains.
“The 96-hour war has become a 120-plus-day war, and nothing we’ve done has changed that,” he said.
Another issue is that Israel and Lebanon are still in conflict. Part of the deal between the US and Iran was that Israel’s campaign in Lebanon would cease. Although Israel and Lebanon signed a US-brokered deal last week, Hezbollah has rejected it, while renewed exchanges of fire have complicated implementation of the broader US-Iran agreement.
The US and Iran also continue to give mixed signals about the state of peace negotiations. The US is claiming a more positive future, while Iran insists no high-level talks are scheduled.
Even though Iran has emerged as the obvious victor, both sides have traded strikes since the signing of the MoU.
The US and Iran Exchange Strikes
This will do little to solve anything, as both sides blame the other for the violation of the agreement.