{"id":5698,"date":"2026-07-14T05:03:42","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T05:03:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=5698"},"modified":"2026-07-14T05:03:42","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T05:03:42","slug":"iran-plays-by-trumps-rules-to-deepen-his-war-dilemma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=5698","title":{"rendered":"Iran plays by Trump\u2019s rules to deepen his war dilemma"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n Iran seems to be playing Donald Trump at his own game.\n <\/p>\n

\n The president complained Monday that the Islamic Republic can\u2019t be trusted to honor an agreement, rebuking its rulers for one of his own signature moves.\n <\/p>

Read more Trump says Reflecting Pool has been drained and will be \u2018put back into service soon\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

\n \u201cIt was a done deal, and then they broke it. They always break it,\u201d he told Fox News of the memorandum of understanding that briefly paused the war. Trump did not seem to appreciate the irony of his critique, given his habit of walking out on multiple international agreements, including the Paris Climate Accord (twice). Some critics would trace America\u2019s current predicament to Trump\u2019s first-term decision to scrap the Obama-era deal capping Iran\u2019s nuclear program.\n <\/p>\n

\n Later in the day, a frustrated Trump vowed to impose his own toll on ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz. Iran \u2014 in an offer laced with sarcasm \u2014 jumped in with a better price than the author of \u201cArt of the Deal.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cPOTUS is absolutely right,\u201d Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on X, arguing that Trump had legitimized Tehran\u2019s position on charging for passage through the vital waterway. Araghchi added archly: \u201c20% is of course too much. We will be fair.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Trump is finding out that Iran drives a hard bargain and has its own interpretation of what was in the memo. And he\u2019s yet to clearly explain to Americans why he reignited a war that he repeatedly said he\u2019d already won.\n <\/p>\n

\n Weeks after declaring that an MOU he signed with a flourish meant he\u2019d forever ended Iran\u2019s nuclear program and brought peace to the Middle East for the first time in 3,000 years, he\u2019s changed his tune. Trump said on Hugh Hewitt\u2019s radio show Monday the deal was a \u201ctest\u201d Iran had failed and \u201cdidn\u2019t mean much.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Once, admirers might have argued Trump\u2019s sharp contradictions are evidence he\u2019s playing four-dimensional diplomatic chess. Now he\u2019s at best locked in a stalemate.\n <\/p>\n

\n Trump can\u2019t change the reality of the war\n<\/h2>\n
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\"Vessels<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n<\/div>\n
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\nVessels at the Strait of Hormuz as seen from Musandam, Oman, on July 12, 2026.<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Reuters<\/figcaption>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n The MOU crumbled because Iran acted to defend its top victory in the war \u2014 effective control over the strait. This reinforced a harsh reality for the US: For all Trump\u2019s threats and military power, Tehran is still dictating the dynamics of the showdown. And the equation that defined the war remains unchanged: The Islamic Republic is using geography and a shrewd understanding of its own limited power to outmaneuver a superpower adversary.\n <\/p>\n

\n The new test of wills sprang partly from the administration\u2019s rush to negotiate an MOU that contained imprecise language. Trump\u2019s team of real estate negotiators under the leadership of Vice President JD Vance appeared to miss what critics more steeped in history and diplomacy immediately realized: that Iran would use it to grab new leverage.\n <\/p>\n

\n For example, the agreement called on Tehran to \u201cmake arrangements\u201d for the free and safe passage of commercial vessels through the strait for 60 days and required it to work with Oman to \u201cdefine the future administration and maritime services\u201d in the strait. Superficially, this gives the US what it wants \u2014 the normal operation of the strait. But Iran seems to view it as confirmation it will control the waterway after a permanent agreement. It\u2019s hardly surprising, therefore, it\u2019s fighting to shape the new status quo.\n <\/p>\n

\n The misstep compounded an earlier mistake \u2014 the failure to understand that Iran would close the strait in the first place. That this is still an issue a month after the MOU was agreed upon suggests its 60-day timeline for a full deal, including on Iran\u2019s nuclear program, was absurdly unrealistic.\n <\/p>

Read more Johnson gambles on ambitious summer agenda as GOP anxiety rises ahead of midterms<\/a><\/p>\n

\n The administration\u2019s struggles to compel Iranian behavior raise the bar for questions about Trump\u2019s return to war.\n <\/p>\n

\n Is there, for instance, reason to believe that attacks on Iranian targets and Trump\u2019s restoration of a naval blockade will be any more successful in changing the calculations of the new Iranian leaders than they were before? After all, Iran needed only a few missiles and drones to close down the strait again.\n <\/p>\n

\n And will swiftly mounting economic costs \u2014 oil and diesel futures shot up on Monday \u2014 again convince the president to blink to avoid the political and economic price that he candidly said last month he wasn\u2019t willing to pay?\n <\/p>\n

\nWhy all-out war could still be averted<\/strong>\n<\/h2>\n
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\"This<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n<\/div>\n
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\nThis image from video released by US Central Command shows an explosion caused by US military one-way attack drones at Bandar Abbas Naval Base, Iran, on July 12, 2026.<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
US Central Command\/AP<\/figcaption>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n One reason for hope is that the renewed clashes could imply the US and Iran are seeking to cement their own interpretation of the MOU to set the table for future diplomacy.\n <\/p>\n

\n Trump, for example, has shown no sign that he\u2019s willing to pay a possibly heavy price in US casualties from invading the Iranian oil-producing hub at Kharg Island \u2014 one possible way to impose American superiority. Some other modern presidents, including Lyndon Johnson and George W. Bush, by contrast, intensified wars that already seemed inconclusive.\n <\/p>\n

\n And unlike his friend Russian President Vladimir Putin, the US president hasn\u2019t responded to his strategic humiliation in a war that underestimated an opponent by launching all-out war on civilians. Tragedy did strike early in the war when an errant US attack struck an Iranian school, killing 168 children and 14 teachers, according to Iranian officials. And the full civilian toll of attacks is unknown.\n <\/p>\n

\n But Trump has not followed through on earlier threats to target infrastructure like bridges and power plants, which would severely impact civilian life. And Iran has maintained its own ceiling on escalation with its reprisals against US regional bases or its Gulf neighbors.\n <\/p>\n

\n The battlefield choreography, meanwhile, currently reflects a conflict that is simmering rather than raging out of control.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThere is room for diplomacy, I think, despite the expanded attacks of the US against Iran (and) Iranian retaliation,\u201d Danny Citrinowicz, senior researcher in the Iran and the Shiite Axis Program at Israel\u2019s Institute for National Security Studies, told CNN\u2019s Becky Anderson on \u201cConnect the World.\u201d But, he, added: \u201cThings can get out of control and escalate because when you have back-and-forth attacks every day, every night, definitely it\u2019s hard to preserve the rule of the game.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n And even if the fresh conflagration stays just below the boil, Trump must still answer a question with which he\u2019s been unsuccessfully wrestling for nearly five months.\n <\/p>

Read more Graham asked a staffer to call 911 after reporting chest pains, GOP senator says<\/a><\/p>\n

\n How does he get out of the war?\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Iran seems to be playing Donald Trump at his own game.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5693,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5698","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nIran plays by Trump\u2019s rules to deepen his war dilemma - Relocation Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=5698\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Iran plays by Trump\u2019s rules to deepen his war dilemma - Relocation Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Iran seems to be playing Donald Trump at his own game.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=5698\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Relocation Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-14T05:03:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/10b27373a5badfbb911a9601c2a94801.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"432\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=5698#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=5698\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3d25fb966f660ab012820a9e0acc09be\"},\"headline\":\"Iran plays by Trump\u2019s rules to deepen his war dilemma\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-14T05:03:42+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=5698\"},\"wordCount\":1150,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=5698#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/782d55cb886857638a5354ace53cf957.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Politics\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=5698#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=5698\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=5698\",\"name\":\"Iran plays by Trump\u2019s rules to deepen his war dilemma - 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