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Trump Advisers Warn Iran Conflict Could Continue for Years
(MENAFN) Senior US officials have privately cautioned President Donald Trump that the confrontation with Iran could become a prolonged conflict, potentially continuing for years and extending through the remainder of his presidency, according to reports.
Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other senior members of the administration have reportedly discussed the possibility that Tehran may continue resisting Washington’s pressure despite sanctions, a naval blockade and ongoing military operations.
Those internal assessments differ significantly from Trump’s public statements. The president said Wednesday that the conflict would end “immediately” following the November midterm elections, insisting that “they can’t hold out any longer.”
The conflict has now entered its seventh month, leaving 18 US servicemembers dead while placing additional pressure on American military resources and contributing to instability in global energy markets. US gasoline prices reached an average of $4.22 per gallon Wednesday, compared with $4.01 a month earlier and $3.19 a year ago, according to industry data.
Trump has repeatedly called for a swift end to the confrontation while backing an expanded economic pressure campaign against Tehran. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has presented the initiative, known as “Operation Economic Outcast,” as an alternative to large-scale combat operations.
White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales defended the administration’s strategy, saying: “President Trump has destroyed Iran’s military capabilities and is crippling what’s left of its abysmal economy with the most powerful naval blockade in world history and crushing sanctions,” she added. “Only President Trump knows what he will do and when.”
Vance has similarly avoided offering a timeline for the end of hostilities, saying: “It would be irresponsible for us to write out our strategy and our timeline for an Iranian nation that simply cannot honor its commitments and cannot stop shooting at commercial ships,”
Meanwhile, the Pentagon is preparing to keep some US air defense units deployed in the Middle East indefinitely, while a third Marine Expeditionary Unit is expected to arrive in the region during the fall, according to reports.
Iran specialist Suzanne Maloney of the Brookings Institution questioned whether the naval blockade could produce a rapid breakthrough.
“The U.S. naval blockade is unlikely to produce a decisive outcome in the near or even medium term, so the only realistic use of this tool would have to be predicated on plans for a long-term siege,” she said.
“Even then, its prospects for success are dubious, mainly because of the unintended consequences,” she added.
Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other senior members of the administration have reportedly discussed the possibility that Tehran may continue resisting Washington’s pressure despite sanctions, a naval blockade and ongoing military operations.
Those internal assessments differ significantly from Trump’s public statements. The president said Wednesday that the conflict would end “immediately” following the November midterm elections, insisting that “they can’t hold out any longer.”
The conflict has now entered its seventh month, leaving 18 US servicemembers dead while placing additional pressure on American military resources and contributing to instability in global energy markets. US gasoline prices reached an average of $4.22 per gallon Wednesday, compared with $4.01 a month earlier and $3.19 a year ago, according to industry data.
Trump has repeatedly called for a swift end to the confrontation while backing an expanded economic pressure campaign against Tehran. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has presented the initiative, known as “Operation Economic Outcast,” as an alternative to large-scale combat operations.
White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales defended the administration’s strategy, saying: “President Trump has destroyed Iran’s military capabilities and is crippling what’s left of its abysmal economy with the most powerful naval blockade in world history and crushing sanctions,” she added. “Only President Trump knows what he will do and when.”
Vance has similarly avoided offering a timeline for the end of hostilities, saying: “It would be irresponsible for us to write out our strategy and our timeline for an Iranian nation that simply cannot honor its commitments and cannot stop shooting at commercial ships,”
Meanwhile, the Pentagon is preparing to keep some US air defense units deployed in the Middle East indefinitely, while a third Marine Expeditionary Unit is expected to arrive in the region during the fall, according to reports.
Iran specialist Suzanne Maloney of the Brookings Institution questioned whether the naval blockade could produce a rapid breakthrough.
“The U.S. naval blockade is unlikely to produce a decisive outcome in the near or even medium term, so the only realistic use of this tool would have to be predicated on plans for a long-term siege,” she said.
“Even then, its prospects for success are dubious, mainly because of the unintended consequences,” she added.
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