The Trump administration announced on Sunday that they had signed a memorandum of understanding with the Iranians that would extend the ceasefire for 60 days, during which a more final deal will be worked out that will include negotiations on Iran’s enrichment capabilities and the easing of American sanctions.
This is after three-and-a-half months of bombings and empty threats like Trump’s “a whole civilization will die tonight” bit – they produced no “freedom” for the Iranians.
The war also did not significantly reduce Iran’s ability to strike Israel or the Gulf states and it caused the Strait of Hormuz to be closed causing Trump to lash out at our allies for not helping even though he neglected to consult with them before launching the war. The war is estimated to have cost US households $100 billion.
Iran officially beat America at doing battle by shooting at random boats from time to time – the thing that we are supposed to be best at. That’s like if Larry David knocked out Muhammad Ali. What is the point of spending nearly a trillion dollars annually on defense if we can’t even smack around a nation with no nukes and a population that hates its own government? Alexander the Great conquered them and he had to walk there.
There’s quite a bit of uncertainty about what exactly the memorandum of understanding contains – it looks like they’re hesitant to publish the full text of the agreement because it might be humiliating for the US. For example, this may be such a resounding victory for Iran that they will probably be receiving reparations for the harm that we caused.
According to the New York Times, the memorandum included a $300 billion reconstruction fund for Iran – Vice President JD Vance later added that the fund would be paid for by the Gulf states but reparations are reparations whether you pay for them or you get someone else to.
The Gulf countries were just sitting there peacefully and now they have to pay into a $300 billion fund to reconstruct a country that shattered their image as a safe-haven for economic activity in the chaotic region.
The two sides seem to be looking at completely different agreements with Trump claiming that the Strait of Hormuz will be “permanently toll-free” while the Iranians seem to see themselves in a better bargaining position than that. Iranian state media, the Fars News Agency has reported that Iran intends to start charging “environmental” fees after the 60-day period.
I’m an American so it goes without saying that I’m rooting for our side but if I were the Iranians, I would like my prospects. Over the past month, The Trump administration has been desperate to end the war and return to the pre-war state of affairs as evidenced by him pleading with Israel and Iran to stop attacking each other.
With American leadership displaying this level of desperation, why wouldn’t the Iranians start charging tolls – they can just start shooting at tankers and shut down the Strait of Hormuz once again. What are we going to do? Are we going to war with them again just so that this administration can fold to the pressure in another two months while we get closer and closer to the November elections?
Iranian leadership has no regard for the toll that the war has brought to its people and Trump’s ill-advised campaign has taught them that America has no desire for a full-scale invasion and that they can extort the world economy as they see fit.
Presumably, some may be hopeful that we will at least come to an agreement that will prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. This would not have been necessary at all given that the UN confirmed that Iran was in full compliance with the previous nuclear deal – they only restarted their enrichment program after Trump withdrew from the deal in 2018, which means that this humiliation could have been avoided long ago.
So, what did we really achieve with this misguided war? 13 of our soldiers lost their lives for nothing and as of early April, we killed at least 254 children and injured thousands.
Happy 250th anniversary America, I’m going fishing.
Rafael Perez is a columnist for the Southern California News Group. He is a doctoral candidate in philosophy at the University of Rochester. You can reach him at rafaelperezocregister@gmail.com.