Iran endures 6 months of US strikes as Trump’s war goals hit ‘dangerous impasse’

‘I don’t think the administration is any closer to finding a way out of this,’ an ex-diplomat says, as Tehran bets time is on its side

Six months after US and Israeli ⁠forces attacked Iran, killing its supreme leader and maiming his son and successor, the Iranian government is under economic siege, but it still holds power and believes it has time on its side.

A threat by US President Donald Trump to impose crippling new sanctions on Iran faces a fundamental problem: Tehran is betting he will not take the final step to break the stalemate – aggressively enforcing secondary sanctions on the countries keeping its economy afloat, foremost among them China and India.

Washington’s latest measures, announced on Monday, mark a new phase in the conflict that began on February 28, shifting the battlefield from missiles and air strikes to Iran’s oil revenues, banks and trading partners.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said the ‌United States will cut off the financial lifelines sustaining Iran’s economy, while a US-led naval blockade restricts Tehran’s oil exports and access to hard currency.

“The [Trump] administration is groping in a sort of desperate fashion to try to find a pathway out of this,” said Aaron David Miller, a former US diplomat and senior fellow at Carnegie Endowment.