Editorial: Deal makes clear that Trump’s Iran war was a catastrophe – The Virginian-Pilot
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Even as Americans should welcome the end of combat operations in President Donald Trump’s war of choice against Iran, there is no way to spin the resolution as anything other than a massive strategic blunder for the United States.
What was gained — and the agreement confirms it’s not much — is disproportionate to the enormous cost of this escapade, which includes 13 American lives, hundreds of U.S. casualties, an untold number of Iranian deaths and billions of dollars in weaponry.
Yes, Iran agreed to cease nuclear weapons development, but even that is a pledge the nation has made repeatedly for decades. The Strait of Hormuz is expected to reopen, but commercial traffic was moving smoothly through that waterway prior to the joint U.S.-Israeli attacks Feb. 28.
By all accounts, the war ravaged Iran’s military forces and inflicted considerable damage to infrastructure and non-military targets; strikes that hit a school on the first day of operations killed 175 people, including 120 children. The country suffered and will do so for some time even as the bombs stop and it begins to rebuild.
But the memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed last week leaves Iran in a more advantageous position than before the war started. Not only has it proved that it can assert control over a vital commercial shipping lane, a route through which 34% of the world’s oil supplies pass, but it will receive $300 billion toward reconstruction and an end to economic sanctions that have crippled its economy.
The MOU also stipulates that the United States will remove its forces from the region. The specifics of this aren’t defined but a full withdrawal from the Middle East would be a disaster for our allies and concede an important foothold for American interests in a perpetually volatile area.
Most infuriating, though, is that none of this had to happen.
Iran has been a thorn in this country’s sign for decades, especially after the Islamic revolution in 1979. The country has threatened its neighbors, funded terrorists abroad and been responsible for the deaths of numerous U.S. service members, including the 1983 Marine barracks bombing in Beirut that killed 241 Americans.
Former President Barack Obama, along with five other nations, effectively boxed Iran in through the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which was signed in 2015. It established strong limits on Iran’s nuclear program, including mandated international monitoring to ensure compliance. It was not perfect, but it was a successful framework that advanced America’s goal of limiting Iran’s access to the world’s most dangerous weapons.
Trump, however, ripped that agreement up in his first term, leaving Iran to pursue its nuclear ambitions without oversight or constraint. Economic sanctions continued, and they took a toll, but the reckless dissolution of JCPOA led directly to this moment.
The MOU is only the first step in resolving this larger conflict. The deal that Trump signed at, of all places, the Palace of Versailles in France on Wednesday includes the caveat that a final treaty will address Iran’s nuclear program and its related materials.
As it stands, though, this is a lesser agreement than what Obama negotiated and which Trump has subjected to withering criticism for years. The president insists American taxpayers will not fund reconstruction, but Iran will still receive exponentially more money than it received under JCPOA. And the parameters of this deal are far more favorable to Iran than to the United States if that country maintains any semblance of authority over the Strait of Hormuz.
There’s also no telling if the peace will last. The inclusion of Lebanon, where Israel and Iranian-backed Hezbollah continue to fight, could still unravel everything, leaving the situation in far more murky waters.
In 2020, Trump tweeted, “Iran never won a war, but never lost a negotiation!” The president made that clear with this deal. The United States, the Middle East and the larger international community will be living with the calamitous results for years.
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