Trump asks for more time to finish the war against Iran: "We will strike harder in the coming weeks"

WashingtonA speech that could have been one of his messages on Truth Social. All the expectation generated around this Wednesday night's appearance has been reduced to a 20-minute intervention that seemed like a summary of the previous days' statements. Donald Trump has once again said that he expects to end the war in the next two or three weeks; that he is negotiating with the supposed new Iranian regime whose identity he has not even revealed and that the United States is very close to achieving its objectives. The US president seeks to buy time for a war that, according to his own forecasts, should have already ended. "It is very important that we maintain the perspective of this conflict," defended the Republican, who cited the four weeks of unresolved war as a supposed triumph compared to other longer conflicts such as Vietnam or World War II.

"Thanks to the progress we have made, I can say tonight that we are on track to achieve all our military objectives very soon," Trump said. And he added: "Over the next two or three weeks we will hit them very hard. In the coming weeks we will return them to the Stone Age, where they belong." Far from offering any kind of update or clarification, the appearance raises even more questions about the future of the war. Especially with regard to the forecast of an escalation of attacks in the coming days, considering that the Pentagon has already mobilized an additional 7,000 soldiers to the region. All of them specialized in ground operations. Trump has made no mention of these new troops destined for the Middle East.

It has taken a month of conflict and the price of gasoline in the US to exceed 4 dollars per gallon (3.78 liters) for Trump to finally address the nation. The day after jointly attacking Tehran with Israel, he limited himself to making several announcements through Truth Social. Nor did he hold any press conference or similar when there were the first casualties of American soldiers, which now number 13. The only thing that has brought the tycoon to the fore has been the widespread concern over the price of gasoline.

Trump has tried to send a message of calm to Americans about the rising cost of oil. "The United States has never been better prepared economically to face this threat. You all know that we built the strongest economy in history. We are living it right now," he said. War is an abstract concept for a good part of citizens, but seeing how the price at the gasoline pump rises every day is a tangible fact that generates more unease each time is a tangible fact that generates more unease each time.

It is not known if the president's words will have served as consolation for citizens, but for the markets it has become clear that they have not. At the end of the speech, the price of a barrel of crude oil shot up 5% to settle again at 106 dollars. The price of oil had fallen shortly before the speech. Investors had hoped that Trump would announce the end of the war or some similar scenario.

No details of the new regime

"Regime change was never our objective. We never talked about regime change, but it has happened because all of its original leaders are dead," Trump stated. This statement, at the outset, is false: only bombing Iran on February 28th called on Iranians to take to the streets and bring about regime change. Even when they were still negotiating with the ayatollahs, Trump made a Truth Social post talking about the need to provoke regime change if an agreement was not reached. Despite reaffirming that there is a new regime in Iran "less radical and much more reasonable," Trump has not provided any further details on who this new group leading the nation is supposed to be. For now, the only interlocutor whose existence is known are the members of the Revolutionary Guard and the rest of the regime's officials who are still alive, who have repeatedly denied the alleged negotiations that Washington defends.

Trump was once again referring to the alleged diplomatic contacts with this new regime and recalled the ultimatum to attack Iranian power plants if an agreement was not reached before April 6th: "If during this period of time there is no agreement, we have key targets in sight. If there is no agreement, they will bomb every one of their power plants [...] And there is nothing they can do to prevent it because they do not have anti-aircraft defense systems, their radar is 100% annihilated. We are an unstoppable military force." The president took the opportunity to repeat the phrase he told Volodymyr Zelensky during the argument in the Oval Office: "We have all the cards and they have none."

Despite discussing alleged negotiations with Iran, Trump made no reference to the letter published by President Masoud Pezeshkian shortly before his speech. In the missive, Pezeshkian asked Americans to truly consider the objective of this war and how it serves American interests. "Is 'America First' part of the U.S. government's priorities today? I invite you to look beyond the disinformation machinery," the text, published in English and Persian, reads. Pezeshkian hit a nerve with the most critical sector of Trumpism regarding the war, describing Washington as a "proxy" of Israel that has allowed itself to be dragged into a conflict that only serves Tel Aviv's interests.

Pezeshkian emphasized how the regime has shown itself to be prepared to continue within a war of attrition. Nevertheless, he also seemed to extend a hand to Trump for a possible dialogue: "Today the world stands at a crossroads: continuing on the path of confrontation is more futile and costly than ever. The choice between confrontation and negotiation is real and has consequences." It is not clear, however, what value Pezeshkian's offer holds, given that within the ayatollahs' regime, the Supreme Leader is the ultimate authority.

Currently, the position is held by Ali Jamenei's son, Mojtaba Jamenei, and there is no indication that the letter has his approval or that it was commissioned by him. In fact, the missive added further confusion to the crossed statements from both sides. On Wednesday morning, Trump had claimed that the Iranians had offered him a ceasefire, a fact that was quickly denied by the regime.

The Iranians lost their reasons to see Washington as a reliable interlocutor a long time ago. This Wednesday afternoon, they confirmed it again: according to Iranian media reports, former Foreign Minister Kamal Jarazi had been injured in an attack on residential buildings in Tehran. Jarazi is considered a moderate politician and, according to Iranian officials, had been one of the supervisors of diplomatic contacts with Pakistan for a possible meeting between regime officials and Vice President JD Vance.

Hormuz and NATO, marginal issues

Trump's references to the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz have been scarce, and all to imply that it is not a problem for the U.S. Despite the fact that it has indeed been provoked by Washington. "We are doing incredibly well in the production and sale of large quantities of oil and gas, with the second largest reserves on the planet after the United States of America. We are now totally independent of the Middle East and, even so, we are there to help. We don't have to be there. We don't need their oil. We don't need anything they have, but we are there to help our allies," Trump said. According to the president, the maritime passage will open "naturally" once the war ends.

Reopening the Strait of Hormuz seems to have gone from being one of Trump's main priorities to practically being collateral damage that he disregards. The shift makes sense: the United States is looking for a decisive blow in the war that will allow them to claim victory quickly. The White House has been hitting a wall for weeks regarding Hormuz, and getting it unblocked does not seem like an achievable goal right now; neither through diplomatic nor military means. So, little by little, the administration is abandoning the goal it had initially set.

Criticizing European allies for not having helped him in his military endeavor also has another subtext: it means placing on them the responsibility for unleashing the mess he has caused in the region. Meanwhile, as a consequence, it gives him more ammunition to attack NATO. However, despite the fact that Trump spent all Wednesday sounding the possibility of withdrawing the U.S. from the Alliance, he made no mention of the fact during his speech.