SINGAPORE: During his campaign and in the months after taking office, United States President Donald Trump has repeatedly spoken out against getting the US involved in “stupid endless wars” in the Middle East. So far, he has managed to keep his word, his bombing campaign against the Houthis in Yemen excepted.
He has pursued a deal with Iran that would end its nuclear weapons programme. While doing so, he has managed to keep a newly emboldened Israel from seizing what it viewed as a golden opportunity to deal with Iran, waving off attack plans and rebuffing calls for the US to join the military campaign.
When Israel went its own way to directly strike Iran last Friday (Jun 13), the US was quick to point out that Washington was not involved and Mr Trump called for Iran to get back to the negotiating table.
As recently as Jun 12, one day before Israel’s strikes, Mr Trump was talking up prospects for a deal, saying that there had been “very good discussions”. Even at the G7 summit in Canada on Monday, while Israel and Iran were duking it out, Mr Trump doubled down, saying “(Tehran) wants to make a deal”.
Then, he left the summit early and just a day later, executed a volte-face. Now, there are growing fears that the US is poised to enter the conflict.
Mr Trump’s statements have grown darker, calling for Iran’s “unconditional surrender” and issuing a veiled threat against Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, saying that the US knew his location but won’t kill him “for now”.
