Trump’s Iran war has inflamed bitter rivalries that will shake the world

March 24, 2026 — 2:30pm

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US President Donald Trump has backed away from the 48-hour deadline he gave Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, pending the outcome of back-channel talks with a senior Iranian official, rumoured to be the powerful parliamentary speaker and former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf. Trump’s threatened strikes on Iran’s electricity network had dramatically raised the stakes for the Americans’ Arab Gulf allies, after Tehran countered with threats to strike their energy, water and communications infrastructure in retaliation.

The Iranians have denied that any such talks have taken place. But given the current disarray within the country’s leadership, including a new supreme leader who has been neither seen nor heard since his elevation two weeks ago, it is possible that a faction within the regime is in discussions with Washington about an off-ramp.

My expectation is that the American involvement in the war will wrap up in the coming days or weeks. However, this does not mean that the regional conflict will come to an end.

Iran’s Arab Gulf neighbours are reeling from being drawn against their will into a war they had long worked hard to prevent; one that has resulted in not just US bases, but civilian sites targeted, including major Gulf airports, hotels, oil and gas facilities and even residential housing. Regardless of what Trump does next, for the Gulf everything has changed.

The Gulf Co-operation Council states of Saudi........

© Brisbane Times