Who’s winning this war, anyway?
Speaking at the UN on Tuesday, President Donald Trump painted a grim picture of the current state of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s military forces: “As a result of Operation Epic Fury,” Trump declared, “all 159 ships of their navy are now lying at the bottom of the sea. Likewise, their air force is gone. Their radar is gone. Their anti-aircraft equipment is gone. Their missile and drone manufacturing capacity is almost gone. Their economy is gone. The only thing that isn’t gone is inflation, which is destroying their country and is now well over 300 percent.” That all makes it sound as if the Islamic Republic is on its last legs.
Meanwhile, in Tehran, the state-controlled Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported Wednesday that the Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), Mohsen Rezaei, was in no mood to take any guff from Donald Trump. Rezaei, according to IRNA, “reiterated that Iran will not return to its pre-war diplomatic approach toward the United States, calling on Washington to ‘take action’ and meet Iran’s conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz.”
Rezaei “made the remarks in a post on X on Wednesday, saying, ‘Iran’s new diplomacy will not return to the past,’ as the Islamic Republic has reached a new strategic peak.” Rezaei declared: “We will force the United States to respect the rights of the Iranian people and comply with the conditions communicated to it; otherwise, the Strait of Hormuz will not be opened. Enough with negotiations. Take action.”
In another story on Wednesday, IRNA added that Iran was demanding that the U.S. meet “seven conditions set by Tehran.” Rezaei explained that these conditions were “completely different from those of the past and that Tehran would not return to previous arrangements.” He declared: “Until our conditions are met, the Strait of Hormuz will not be opened and we will not negotiate.” Rezaei also said that Iran “wanted the United States to take action first to restore the trust of the Iranian people, stressing that Washington would have to act before Tehran would consider entering negotiations.”
Directly contradicting Trump’s statements at the UN, Rezaei “also said Iran had emerged from the war in a stronger position, stressing that the country was now at the peak of its standing and that Iran today was not the same as it was before the war.”
Well, this is extraordinary. It’s as if General Eisenhower detailed the sorry state of National Socialist German forces in April 1945, only to have Göring or Goebbels insist that the National Socialists were stronger than ever, and that the United States had to meet its demands.
For the American people and the world, it’s essentially impossible to know what’s going on here. The Iranians could be pulling an elaborate Baghdad Bob act, trying to fool the world into thinking that they’re in a stronger position than they actually are. In light of the fact that this is a regime based on an Islamic sect that has an elaborate theology of taqiyya, or religious deception, that is a very real possibility. It is also possible that Trump, who is well known to be given to exaggeration, is portraying the Iranians as weaker than they actually are. Most likely, they aren’t as strong as the Iranians are proclaiming, or as weak as Trump is saying.
So what next? More of the same. Trump was talks, and the Iranians are saying they won’t talk until the U.S. meets their conditions. Trump seems not to know or care that any deal he signs with the leaders of the Islamic Republic will be utterly worthless, as the people he is trying to deal with simply don’t believe either in making honest deals or in a lasting peace. Trump might have agreed to disastrous conditions, as he did in the Memorandum of Understanding he concluded with the Islamic Republic in June, in order to try to bring the appearance of enough of a victory to stave off disaster for the Republicans in the midterm elections, but on Tuesday he said any new negotiations with Iran would take place after the midterms, and that disaster seems inevitable.
The only hope amid all this is that the economic (and possibly military) woes of the Islamic Republic get so bad that the regime finally collapses. We can hope.
Tony says
Islam and its Muslims fund, teach, and promte hatred, deceit, and terrorism against Non-Muslims as taught in Islamic Law. Actually, Islam is the daily practice of Islamic Law, Sharia, which is created from the Qur’an, the Sira, the Hadith, the Tafsir, the Tarikh, past Islamic Legal Rulings, etc to solidify power and control. Furthermore, Muslim Islamization includes Muslim Criminal-Terrorist-Gang Organizations using Governments, Bureaucracies, Mosques, Muslim Homes, Muslim Schools, Halal Organizations, Islamic Centers, Sharia Courts, Muslim Non-Profits, etc. to fund, to educate, and to support Islamic Law and Muslim Propaganda against all Non-Muslims(Qur’an 1:5; 3:51, 101, 118; 5:3, 48; 8:60, 45:18; 48:29, etc.). Genocidal Allah in Qur’an 8:39 commands, “And engage in war with them[Non-Muslims] until there will not be sedition and the religion will be completely to Allah…”
Public Funding is a privilege that should NOT BE granted to organizations that are against the US Constitution or Western Constitutions. Totalitarian Islam and its Muslim Organizations including Muslim Schools and Mosques are against the US Constitution due to Muslim funding, teaching, and promoting discrimination, segregation, hatred, rape, violence, totalitarianism, and terrorism to make Islamic Law supreme. Islam’s Muslims are murderous, Totalitarian Terrorists of Allah operating as a Criminal-Terrorist-Gang Enterprise under Islamic Law to ultimately conquer the enemies of Allah, the Non-Muslims, with Islamic Law DBA Islam(Qur’an 8:60; 9:5, 29, 111; 49:15, etc.).
David M says
Trump was told this would happen if he started a war, but he went ahead & did it anyway. Imagine aliens looking down at us & our history, they must be thinking we are so dumb because we just don’t learn. There are no good wars, end of story, but we do them over & over again. I recommend in future only the politicians who start wars are allowed to go & fight, not all the soldiers who go off & die because of the politicians who start them. See how many wars there are then.
Politicians think they have the authority to decide who lives & who dies, but when they die they will find out who really has the authority over that, and they will not be judged lightly.
ploome says
What should Trump have done with a nuclear Iran?
David M says
We were told the strikes months before took out their nuclear capacity. What happened to that? This is Israel’s war, plain & simple, & Trump got suckered into it.
Beans🫘 says
We made assumptions about what would happen that never came true.
I have to say I understood personally the situation with our military was very poor and very exploitable beforehand. We don’t have the muscle to take out their missile stockpiles. We also are very low on advanced interceptors and we lack a robust industrial base.
The administration under estimated basically everything from the economy, their leadership structure, their military assets and capabilities as well as the popular support.
I am not against this war but I hate what will happen in the election. That hurts me the most.
The Iranians have a lot of leverage on Trump right now. I would also say we are not in terrible shape overall. We have the blockade on and they will make a deal after the election.
Beans🫘 says
We made assumptions about what would happen that never came true.
I have to say I understood personally the situation with our military was very poor and very exploitable beforehand. We don’t have the muscle to take out their missile stockpiles. We also are very low on advanced interceptors and we lack a robust industrial base.
The administration under estimated basically everything from the economy, their leadership structure, their military assets and capabilities as well as the popular support.
I am not against this war but I hate what will happen in the election. That hurts me the most.
The Iranians have a lot of leverage on Trump right now. I would also say we are not in terrible shape overall. We have the blockade on and they will make a deal after the election. T
ploome says
I guess missed your response,
What should Trump have done with a nuclear Iran?
Buzz says
Trump should and still should completely wipe iran off the face of the earth using nuclear weapons if necessary!!!
Turn iran into a glass parking lot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wellington says
From the get-go when this war began on February 28th Trump should have announced that the Iranian regime in its entirety had to go. He did not do this.
Something else. What are the Iranian people waiting for? They now have their best chance of overthrowing a hideous regime that has been in existence since 1979. Or are they overwhelmingly as I have long suspected, with exceptions duly noted, a nation of sheep? We are told again and again that the vast majority of Iranians hate the regime but timid people can hate something and still do little to nothing about it.
ploome says
Trump want a “deal”
and islam demands dominance and submission
and the muslim are prepared to die
they want death
࿗Infidel࿘ says
The regime supporters are split on this. Since they believe that we are the great Satan, most of them want the war to continue, except that they seem incapable of waging it. As a result, others want to support the MOU advocates. Incidentally, the MOU contents were even worse than the JCPOA, but thankfully, the islamic republicans saw to it that it was sabotaged
Somehow, too many Americans think that fanatics like them can be bought off. It works to an extent w/ socialists and communists, but not jihadists
࿗Infidel࿘ says
Reza Pahlavi wants this regime change to be bloodless: he wants to avoid a repeat of January 8-9th, when some 40,000 Iranians were massacred. Only problem w/ that “bloodless” approach: it is not bloodless. The longer this regime lasts, the longer they’ll continue to murder innocent Iranians just to intimidate the general population
But I blame Trump as well. He ought to tell Netanyahu to feel free to resume the war against Iran to attain their goals of regime change, even if it’s not ours. Oh, and the Delcy Rodriguez experiment in Venezuela has been a disaster. The same officials who worked for Maduro are working for Delcy, and are completely inept at managing Venezuela’s natural disasters. As a result, Trump’s popularity in Venezuela, which peaked when Maduro was overthrown, has now plummeted courtesy Delcy. That’s the last model that should be used even in Cuba, let alone Iran
Wellington says
I agree with all you have stated, Infidel, but I still am very much inclined to think the Iranians a pathetic people overall. Hell, they even make Arabs look kinda’ OK, which is no mean feat.
James Lincoln says
Infidel,
Yes, Pres. Trump should cut Israel loose with its IDF/IAF to effect regime change in Iran.
Concurrently, Israeli special forces should supply arms to Iranian supporters of Reza Pahlavi.
And, yes, it will not be bloodless…
ploome says
in a world of 8 BILLION people, the 18 MILLION Jews should take care of business and send more saviors to save souls
ploome says
Reza wants “it” delivered to him. He is not about to get his suits dirty.
He want to slip in, when the fighting stops.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
Wellington
The Iranians are not worse than the Arabs. Contrast them w/ the Saudis. Even after losing the bulk of their leadership, the islamic dictatorship has still figured out how to keep them suppressed, using both Iraqi/Afghan/Paki proxies, as well as by arming regime supporters to the teeth. Otoh, the Saudis, despite having a larger air force than the Houthis, have to beg everyone around them – Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, Israel, US… – to destroy the Houthis for them: they can’t pull it off on their own
Ploome
From what I understand, Israel would like to achieve regime change in Iran. Not w/ boots on the ground, which they can’t, but by doing what they were doing in March and April of this year – taking out not just leadership but also IRGC & Basij officers & police stations in a lot of places. Using the Ukrainian technique, they could do the rest. But they needn’t do it for free: they can work out a deal w/ Reza Pahlavi that he sets up the Iranian embassy in Jerusalem, and in lieu of that, they recognize him as the legitimate transition government of Iran
Of the 8 billion people in the world, the Chinese are not going to do it, since they support the regime. India likes there to be a shi’a bulwark against the sunnis (something that the Israelis don’t see), and also, they don’t have good memories of Mohammed Reza Shah Pahlavi: who as a part of CENTO had an alliance w/ Pakistan. While Indians are generally supportive of Israel, the public perception is still that Iran is a muslim country and therefore, its people’s sentiments shouldn’t matter. US policy right now seems pretty nebulous. Brazil is still anti-Israel, and I don’t know what Indonesia’s relations are w/ this regime. Those are your top populated countries
I also agree that Reza Pahlavi is somewhat indispensable, being as he is the one figure who can unite the Iranians against this regime, and promise a secular, democratic future. That is not true about any of the separatists, like the Balochis who seem to be winning in Sistan-Balochistan, or Kurds, Azeris or Arabs. None of those separatists, if they get their way, will make their breakaway countries non-islamic the way a united Iran would
So the Iranian people do need help getting armed & trained, but I doubt that either the US nor Israel really have the patience for it. But the Delcy Rodriguez solution does not exist for Iran, and in fact, does not even exist for Venezuela or Cuba: Trump’s approval among Venezuelans, which was high when he ousted Maduro, has since cratered, since the same officials are still running the show in Caracas. Maybe the US should get the OAS to organize free & fair elections in Venezuela, which should be easier, given that most countries from Colombia to Argentina have conservative governments now, and can be more supportive of the US
somehistory says
This reminds me of a Dr. Seuss story….about the two Zax…one going North, the other going South….
muzzies want what they want, and that is world domination. This evil ghoul is not about to consider that he might be wrong. And he cares not a bean or fig for what the people of iran might want.
Jesus said that the “nations will be agitated, not knowing the way out.” The Apostle Paul wrote, in his description of the “last days,” that people would be “not open to any agreement.”
“fierce, without love of goodness,” all fit the demonic minds of devout muzzies.
Huh!?! says
Sadly yes. Islam is demonic. Islamic priests keep saying Islam values death as much as Christians value life. The U.S. and Israel, infidels should give it to them. I believe Trump went in with the best of intentions to save lives by way of negotiation. A noble effort, but will not work with Islam. Force works with Islam. Sadly boots by Israel, the U.S. or both will be needed on the ground. Iran must not have a nuclear arsenal. Islam is pagan. Allah was birthed out of worship of the moon god.
Edwa says
Islam is not a “religion” and must be re-labeled accordingly! So what is Islam? Islam is a satanic sociopolitical death cult. The Prophet of Islam was a perverted pedophile, rapist, slavery advocate and mass murderer. The goal of Islam is the same as that of Nazi Adolf Hitler- kill the Jews and Christians or anyone else to refuses to submit to the evil Ideology of Islam and dominate the world. Death to Islam!