March 30, 2026

Last Saturday, the war in Iran entered its second month. During the past four weeks, the only European leader to object to the attacks on Iran was Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. He issued a clear and firm refusal on March 6, saying, “No to war,” and denying the US permission to use joint Spanish-American military bases against Iran. In the following days, he warned that the Iran war represents a “far worse” scenario than the 2003 invasion of Iraq. He said Israel “seeks to inflict the same level of damage and destruction” on Lebanon as on the Gaza Strip.

However, last Tuesday, a second statesman, Mr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the President of Germany, speaking before an audience of German diplomats in Berlin, also offered sharp criticism of the war. After addressing the war in Ukraine and emphasizing that Europe must now organize its security against Russia, not with Russia, he notably said:

“Just as I believe our relationship with Russia can never return to what it was before 24 February 2022, I think we cannot turn back the clock on the transatlantic relationship to where it was prior to 20 January 2025. The rift is too deep, and the trust that has been lost in American great-power politics is too great – not only among Allies, but around the world. Even a future US Government will not simply be able to restart relations where they once stood in the days of the ‘friendly hegemon’ and its guarantees for a liberal international order – an order that also brought us democracy.”

January 20, 2025, marks the first day of Trump’s second term at the White House.

President Steinmeier’s remarks about “dependencies” are equally striking. Every student of international relations must read his speech thoroughly.[i]

A month into the war, Trump, not Netanyahu, is constantly in the headlines. Yet, when the war somehow comes to an end, it will not be the former but the latter who will claim victory. Indeed, Iran is weakened, Gaza is forgotten, settler violence in the West Bank continues unabated, and the Lebanese territories south of the Litani River are under lasting Israeli occupation, likely to be annexed like the Golan Heights.

During Trump’s first term, US-Israeli cooperation reached new heights. Trump officially recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in 2017. He recognized Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights in 2019, drawing criticism from those who argued that he was thereby legitimizing Russia’s annexation of Crimea. In 2020, the Abraham Accords were signed. Consequently, Netanyahu began calling Trump “the greatest friend Israel ever had at the White House.”

In December 2024, a month before Trump returned to the White House, the Assad regime came to an end in Syria.

Last Wednesday, the targeting of a clinic on a military base in Al-Anbar was claimed by Iraq as “heinous aggression” by the US, though Washington denied it. Unfortunately for Iraq, there is more. Over which countries are the Israeli bombers flying to reach Iran? Over Jordan, Iraq, and Syria, just as they did during the Twelve-Day War last June?[ii] Perhaps even Saudi Arabia, since the Crown Prince, MBS, is reportedly pressuring Trump to “finish the job.”

In brief, Israel has continued to win. However, Netanyahu’s identifying himself with Trump, and the Gaza and Iran wars, supported by the people of Israel, with few exceptions, will haunt Israel for decades.

Last week, The Washington Post reported that images from Iran appear to show land mines scattered by US forces, a first in years. Moreover, there are now thousands of US ground troops deployed in the Middle East. These could be attempts to exert additional pressure on Iran to secure a deal and the preparation for a limited but still costly land operation, as this would result in casualties for both sides, worsen the world’s energy crisis, and generate more criticism for the US.

A major or lasting land invasion is out of the question, since it would mean starting a second Vietnam War.

The Houthis’ launching a missile attack on Israel represents an escalation in the conflict engulfing the Middle East. Thus, beyond the Strait of Hormuz, passage through the Bab al-Mandab Strait is likely to become a further problem for international shipping.

Last Thursday, Trump held a cabinet meeting at the White House. Before the meeting, he made comments to the press and asked some of his team to join the conversation. Thus, his Secretary of Energy, Chris Wright, had the opportunity to underscore the US’s energy security. He said:

“The amazing thing is, we don’t need the Hormuz Strait. We don’t need it. We don’t need it at all. We don’t — we have so much oil. Our country is not affected by this. We have more — we have twice the amount of oil as Saudi Arabia or Russia, and soon it will be three times the amount… Our total oil production is greater than Saudi Arabia’s plus Russia, and more than we consume in the United States. So we’re the largest… Well, same thing for natural gas. We went — before your first term, we were the largest exporter of natural gas in the world. Today, we’re just by far the largest — I mean, we were the largest importer. Now we’re by far the largest exporter and it’s growing rapidly this year. New facilities are coming online, new production is ramping up.”[iii]

In brief, the Trump administration is saying that the US has enough oil and natural gas, and they couldn’t care less if the Israel-US attack on Iran creates huge economic problems for others, including Washington’s “so-called allies,” the members of the “paper-tiger NATO” who failed to join the attack. Yet, rising gasoline prices are already hurting household finances in the US.

According to Trump, the primary goal of the Israel-US attack on Iran is to prevent the country from ever developing a nuclear weapon. However, many believe that—as in Venezuela—he is after Iran’s oil. Before last Thursday’s cabinet meeting, he was boasting about his accomplishments there.

He said, “Well, in Venezuela, we’ve done very well working with Venezuela, certainly. And we’ve taken in billions and billions of dollars. And by the way, Venezuela is doing better right now than they’ve ever done in the history of their country. And sort of like a joint venture, but the United States has made a lot of money…”

Should control over Iran’s oil wealth prove impossible, then the US and Israel would do their best to destroy Iran’s economy, its military, and its civil infrastructure to the maximum extent, and thus throw the country into lasting chaos,  preferably civil war. And, the party determining the extent of destruction will be Israel.

Also, last Thursday, the G-7 foreign ministers met in France. The joint statement issued at the end of their meeting obviously failed to meet Rubio’s expectations.[iv] Thus, in remarks to the press, he joined Trump in making condescending remarks about Washington’s European allies:

“QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, did you think that any of the – any of the G7 were upset or off-put at all by the President’s comments and the – and is there —

“SECRETARY RUBIO: They never act that way in front of me. Maybe they say that to you guys or maybe they say that in other interviews or when they go on the press, but not in front of me they don’t. I never get that. On the contrary, these meetings are oftentimes about thanking America for the role we played in trying to bring peace…” (emphasis added).[v] He kindly stopped there.

Rubio is among those who intend to run for president in 2028. In a Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) poll for the next Republican presidential candidate, about 53% of the attendees voted for Vance, while Rubio came in second with 35%. It must be a relief for the world that Hegseth received only 1%.[vi]

With an unpredictable president in the White House, two members of his Gang of Three competing to be the Republican Party’s next candidate for president, and Europe at a loss over Washington’s policies, the West appears caught in a leadership crisis. Moreover, some believe that the Trump administration’s—particularly Rubio’s—next target will be Cuba, which is already suffering under a US oil blockade.

In the meantime, Iranians are left with no choice other than standing behind a regime whose bloody crackdown on nationwide protests caused the death of thousands of protestors across the country.

As for the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, it seems likely that in today’s chaotic world, at least two other nations will soon decide, if they haven’t done so already, to acquire such weapons.

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[i]https://www.bundespraesident.de/SharedDocs/Reden/EN/Frank-Walter-Steinmeier/Reden/2026/260324-Foreign-Office-75-years.html

[ii] https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/defense-news/article-859088

[iii] https://rollcall.com/factbase/trump/transcript/donald-trump-remarks-cabinet-meeting-march-26-2026/

[iv] https://www.gov.uk/government/news/joint-statement-of-g7-foreign-ministers-on-iran

[v] https://www.state.gov/releases/office-of-the-spokesperson/2026/03/secretary-of-state-marco-rubio-remarks-to-press-8/

[vi] https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2026/03/29/pege-hegseth-christianity/