Trump to Iran: ‘The truce is over, you are scum, we will strike again soon’

According to Trump, the United States has won the war because the regime in Tehran ‘will not be able to acquire a nuclear weapon’: this, according to the US president, is the outcome achieved in the conflict that began in late February, which has cost American citizens – according to estimates by Moody’s Analytics – at least 132 billion dollars, involving a military deployment the likes of which had not been seen for decades. And it has contradicted every statement Trump made about the war to the ‘Make America Great Again’ (MAGA) base that put him in the White House.

Furthermore, in Iran, US and Israeli air strikes have killed at least 3,500 people, including civilians and military personnel. Meanwhile, the regime has brutally suppressed street protests, which now have no international support whatsoever.

But whilst the status of Iran’s nuclear programme remains to be seen, the war’s other objectives have been spectacularly missed. The Iranian regime has been decapitated, but the many leaders killed in the raids – starting with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei – have been replaced by new figures, often more radical and hostile to the West: ‘I am their number one target,’ Trump himself stated. The promise to destroy Iran’s military capability has not been kept. And Tehran’s support for Shia militias in the region – from Hezbollah in Lebanon to the Houthis in Yemen – appears to be beyond question. Furthermore, the Ayatollahs’ regime has discovered that the Strait of Hormuz is the decisive weapon with which to disrupt the global economy.

‘They will never build a nuclear weapon under our agreement, but I don’t know if we’ll have an agreement, because these people lie and cheat. I’ll speak to our negotiators; they want to negotiate. They’re very good: Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner. But I think,” Trump continued, “that dealing with the Iranians is just a waste of time. They’re liars.”

Speaking from Tehran, the Speaker of Parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf – one of the chief negotiators – accused the United States of breaching the ceasefire agreement and then sent a clear message: “The era of bullying and extortion is over: we will not give in.”