In the rarefied environment of the West Wing, the ghosts of the “Twelve-Day War” that transpired last June still linger in the Situation Room. For President Trump, the goal remains unchanged: the same triad of demands that Iran ceases its enrichment activities, dismantles its missile program, and severs its “axis of resistance” connections. But as Washington pursues a policy dictated almost entirely by Israeli security imperatives and the Zionist donor class, the calculus on the ground—and in the water—has fundamentally changed due to the reality of the new, tri-polar world that has emerged.

The Trump administration finds itself trapped between competing imperatives: the operational caution of the foreign policy establishment and the political demands of a donor class for whom Iranian capitulation is non-negotiable. The recent White House visit of Prime Minister Netanyahu—conducted while he faces the shadow of an International Criminal Court warrant for the devastation in Gaza—was marked by the highest levels of diplomatic ceremony.

President Trump himself stated bluntly: “I don’t care about international law, only about my morals”—a remarkable admission that underscores the ideological foundations guiding current US policy.

President Trump himself stated bluntly: “I don’t care about international law, only about my morals”—a remarkable admission that underscores the ideological foundations guiding current US policy.

The aborted January operation was not, as armchair strategists argued, a “genius-level bait-and-switch” meant to test Iranian defenses. Rather, US military planners reached a pragmatic realization: the theatre of operations in the Persian Gulf had been fundamentally re-engineered. The introduction of Chinese Type 055 “super destroyers” and signals intelligence ships into the Gulf of Oman has effectively ended the era of........

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