The statement that has stayed with Benjamin Netanyahu since the Gaza war is his promise to change the Middle East, bringing us into direct confrontation with Iran—turning it not only into the eradication of the regime supporting the resistance axis but into holding the entire region hostage in a conflict whose only known outcome is mutual escalation. Wars in the Middle East, as we know, are easy to start and difficult to end!

The war is no longer confined to two fronts; Trump has dragged the region into his battle without consent. After his forces, alongside his ally Israel, succeeded in targeting the Supreme Leader and some of the top figures described as part of the hawks’ camp, the behavior of the Iranian regime remained unchanged, and it continued launching missiles, contrary to Trump’s promises. Instead, the American president pressured arms manufacturers to rapidly replenish his forces’ ammunition, deployed elite troops and additional aircraft carriers, and called on allies for military support—as if he is not seeking an end to this war, but steering it into a new phase that raises unanswered questions about the true objectives of his campaign with Netanyahu against Iran. This is especially concerning amid talk of mobilizing armed opposition, reminiscent of the Iraq scenario, after the United States failed to incite internal unrest in Iran. Yet Iranians have not abandoned their streets, day or night, and festivals, mourning gatherings, and public demonstrations continue to thwart plans for an uprising, while the Revolutionary Guards have preemptively struck militant camps along the border.

The war is far from over, and oil prices have not fallen as Trump promised. Yet the US-Israeli strikes on Iran’s oil facilities and water desalination plants seem aimed at prolonging the conflict and escalating it to a new level involving regional militaries, following similar attacks on installations in occupied territories and along the coasts of the Arab Gulf countries. It feels as though Trump is deceiving us! Even when he announced that the Iranian president had apologized to his Arab neighbors and pledged not to repeat attacks under American pressure, it seemed like an illusion being sold. Masoud Pezeshkian conveyed a veiled warning in soft terms: “Those who do not support the aggression will not be targeted by Iranian missiles”!

Iran has destroyed US bases, focusing on targeting military radars, while Trump continues his open campaign that has brought nothing but devastation to the region, demanding Iran’s surrender, even as it insists on holding onto the last bullet in its gun!

This American insistence raises the question of whether Trump is carrying forward the project he began during his first term, aiming to crown Israel as a ruler over a devastated region, with the mission of the Abraham Accords being to neutralize regional powers—including Gulf and Arab forces—by drawing them directly into this war.