The president would have abandoned the language of bombs and would be applying a strategy of attrition against Tehran while the naval blockade continues
President Donald Trump declared this Sunday that the United States is reducing the intensity of the military front in the war against Iran and added that he is willing to let the growing economic pressure and internal divisions suffocate the Islamic regime.
"We are lowering the tone", the president told Axios. "We are only semi-negotiating with them. We are simply watching Iran with its enormous inflation and the fact that they have no money," he continued.
In economic terms, the theocracy lacks funds to pay its troops and the naval blockade imposed by Trump has worsened this crisis. And its main weapon, control over the Strait of Hormuz, has not managed to cause significant damage to Washington, as the drop in oil prices has mitigated the impact of the war on Americans.
"It will be resolved. It always gets resolved. It's like a game of chess", Trump expressed, indicating that crude has fallen to just over $75 a barrel.
The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has not had the effect that the regime expected
Trump's war of attrition strategy
The new principle of agreement mediated by Qatar and Pakistan that would grant partial control to Tehran over traffic in the Strait of Hormuz has not yet been announced.
Under these conditions, Trump will not lift the naval blockade nor withdraw his military forces from the areas surrounding Iran, much less compensate Tehran for the damages of the war or release the frozen funds claimed by the Islamic dictatorship. Reaching a nuclear agreement, at this point, is also a delusion.
U.S. officials have pointed out that one cannot negotiate with a fractured regime incapable of agreeing to face an economic crisis like the one in Iran. One faction, led by President Masoud Pezeshkian, predicts an economic collapse and believes Tehran needs an agreement with Trump, while the other side led by the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, Ahmad Vahidi, does not want to make concessions.
Although Trump had leaned towards restarting large-scale combat operations last week, his advisors recommended that he hold back and let the regime collapse internally, as being at war allows the ayatollahs to avoid facing the consequences that society suffers day by day. Without military conflict, Tehran is forced to deal with serious problems it cannot resolve.
Iranian society has been experiencing a severe economic crisis for years
