Why Trump can't understand that his war with Iran isn’t over
Trump’s war in Iran continues to be a mess – with claims and counter claims of peace talks still bouncing back and forth. Why does the president struggle to grasp the reality of the situation?
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In brief…
- Donald Trump has echoed Vladimir Putin, now describing US warfare in Iran as a “military operation”, despite continued claims that it has already been won.
- The News Agents describe the situation as a “tale of two wars”, with each side judging the current stalemate on different terms, and each believing they are proving victorious.
- Activist Negin Shiraghaei returns to tell Emily Maitlis and Jon Sopel why it is “hard to have been right” in this instance, having said in January that the losers in this war would be the people of Iran.
What’s the story?
Whatever you do, don’t call it a war.
Donald Trump has decided that his bombing and destruction of Iran is a mere “military operation” and definitely not a war, definitely not an invasion.
If this terminology sounds familiar, that’s because it’s how Vladimir Putin described the illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine when it began in 2022.
But no matter what you call it, it doesn’t seem to be coming to an end anytime soon, with Trump maintaining peace talks are ongoing, while Iran issues repeated claims that it has no idea what he is talking about.
Iran has, however, issued its own demands ahead of any peace plan, which include retaining control of the Strait of Hormuz, and reparations from the US and Israel for the enormous damage done to the country’s infrastructure.
Why is this all such a mess?
Not only is the Iran War a disaster in terms of human lives lost, the destruction of vital infrastructure across the Middle East and the soaring price of oil resulting from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, it’s an absolute shambles when it comes to communications as well.
Emily Maitlis says the US administration and Israeli government don’t understand why the rest of the world is looking on and seeing a mess in Iran, and why EU and NATO allies didn’t come rushing to their sides to support the war.
“The reason why we're talking about it being such a mess is because of the long term forecast of what this is doing,” she says.
“All they're doing is looking at the bombs and drones right now.
“To everyone else, the future of the energy supply for the whole world is staring us in the face.”
Is Trump’s war different to Iran’s?
Donald Trump is certain his ‘military operation’ in Iran is a huge success. Reports suggest this is likely due to the fact he is presented with an edited collection of clips every day showing US and Israeli bombs hitting Iranian targets – and this is where he forms his opinion on the war.
This may go some way to explaining his bafflement at Iran’s resistance to his demands, and confusion and anger at the lack of support, up to this point, from NATO allies to support his war.
But Jon says Trump’s one-sided view is leaving him shielded from reality.
“This is a tale of two wars,” he says.
“The war being fought by the Americans and the Israelis is a stunning success – Iran has got no air defences left.
“The Iranian Navy, to all intents and purposes, has been sunk completely.”
But to Iran, Jon adds, the regime has survived, and just being able to continue firing missiles convinces Iran that it is still in the fight.
“Iranians also still have their boots on the windpipe of the Strait of Hormuz so that shipping can resume and 20% of the world's oil supplies can carry on,” he says.
This stranglehold may explain why head of NATO, Mark Rutte, is now advising its members to aid the US and Israel in their war in Iran, despite the organisation being founded on defending from war, not starting new conflicts.
‘It’s hard to be right about this - we knew there would be no winner’
A month before the US and Israel began the invasion of Iran, activist Negin Shiraghaei told The News Agents Trump's interest in Iran was not about democracy, not about the people, and instead likely to be about Trump "getting what he wants" from the region.
"It is hard to be right about this, but a lot of people could see there would be no winner if America got involved," Shiraghaei tells The News Agents on a return visit, a month after Trump's war began.
"The biggest loser of all is going to be the people of Iran and the people of the world.
"This is going to lead to economic collapse in different parts of the world."
It has been estimated that 3,300 people have been killed in Iran since the war began in February 2026, 1,464 of those civilians.
And with 20% of the world's oil supplies needing to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran controls and has closed, the financial devastation is being felt much further afield.
She also believes both Iran and Israel are also using the war to manipulate their own people.
"Israel and Iran both think the other is an existential threat.
"And why is that? Because it works for both governments, and they can create diversion towards this enemy outside that allows them to do whatever they want to do inside.
"Israel doesn't care about a stable Iran. A weakened Iran that fits into their generational expansion plan would be much better."