As the American-Israeli war, called Epic Fury, against Iran approaches two weeks, one fact has become painfully clear: nobody knows when or how this war will end. Wars are usually fought with clear objectives — to capture territory, defend borders, or force a political settlement.
But this conflict appears to have begun without any clearly defined goal. Even those who started it — U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — do not seem to have a clear idea of what they want to achieve.
The initial assumption in Washington and Tel Aviv seems to have been simple. The United States and Israel believed that their combined military power would overwhelm Iran quickly. The expectation was that relentless bombardment would break the country’s will and force its leadership to surrender. In other words, they thought Iran would raise the white flag within days.
But wars do not always unfold according to plans drawn in comfortable offices far from the battlefield.
There were also powerful personal and political motives behind the decision to start this conflict. Prime Minister Netanyahu has long been entangled in corruption cases. While accusations of genocide and mass violence may or may not hold against him in international forums, the corruption charges within Israel itself pose a serious threat to his political career.
Many analysts believe he hoped that a quick military victory would transform him from a controversial leader into a national hero. Such a victory, he may have believed, would weaken the cases against him and allow him to return to power in another election. After all, he is already the longest-serving prime minister in Israel’s history.
President Trump, too, had his own reasons. His critics have often described him as a man of grand claims but limited achievements. A dramatic military victory abroad could help restore his image and strengthen his political standing ahead of the mid-term elections scheduled for November.
To justify the war morally, Trump highlighted the issue of Iranian women being forced to wear the veil. This argument was presented as a defence of freedom and human rights. Yet many observers pointed out the deep irony in this stance. Trump’s name has repeatedly appeared in discussions surrounding the Epstein files. If the photographs circulating online are genuine and not artificially generated images, they raise troubling questions about his own shameful and criminal conduct. Critics argue that someone facing such allegations is hardly in a position to lecture others on morality.
After the killing of the Supreme Iranian Leader, his son quickly emerged as the new leader. Instead of collapsing, the Iranian political system adapted to the shock. Reports from within Iran suggest that the new leader is even more determined and uncompromising than his predecessor. The expectation of an easy regime change has, therefore, been shattered.
Militarily, the U.S. and Israel have indeed inflicted serious damage. Iran’s navy and air force have suffered heavy losses. Air strikes have targeted critical infrastructure, including desalination plants and oil refineries. Destroying such facilities has devastating consequences. When desalination plants are hit, the immediate victims are not soldiers but ordinary citizens who depend on them for drinking water.
The war has also seen controversial incidents at sea. One of the vessels destroyed by American forces was reportedly an unarmed naval ship that had earlier taken part in a naval exercise at Visakhapatnam, India’s invitation. According to reports, the ship was torpedoed soon after it left the waters near Sri Lanka. How American forces obtained the precise location of the vessel remains a matter of speculation and debate.
Meanwhile, President Trump’s statements about the war have been inconsistent. At one moment, he claims that the objectives of the war have already been achieved. A few hours later, he says the fighting may continue for weeks.
This confusion has been widely noticed. Well-known American columnist Thomas Friedman recently wrote about Trump’s shifting positions: “One day it’s regime change, one day not; one day he doesn’t care about Iran’s future, the next day he will have a say in choosing the country’s next leader; one day he’s open to negotiations, the next day he is demanding unconditional surrender.”
Such contradictions make it difficult to understand the real direction of the war. The conflict is also spreading beyond Iran’s borders. Several countries in the Gulf region — including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Oman — have already felt the effects of the fighting. Missiles, drone strikes, and disruptions to shipping routes have created widespread anxiety across the region.
One of the biggest fears is economic. If the conflict continues, oil prices could rise dramatically, possibly reaching $200 per barrel. Such an increase would not remain a regional problem. It would affect every country in the world, pushing up fuel prices, transport costs, and the prices of basic goods.
Despite the heavy bombardment, the Iranian people have not shown signs of surrender. Their determination reminds many observers of the Vietnamese during the Vietnam War in the 1960s and early 1970s. The United States possessed overwhelming military power in Vietnam as well, yet it eventually failed to break the resistance of the Vietnamese people.
This defiance appears to have angered President Trump, who has threatened to impose even harsher punishment on Iran. Some fear that such rhetoric could hint at extreme military options. The world still remembers the devastation caused by the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during the Second World War. The mere suggestion of similar actions today sends chills across the globe.
History offers other warnings as well. The United States invaded Iraq, claiming that the country possessed weapons of mass destruction. Those weapons were never found, yet the war devastated Iraq and destabilised the entire region.
In Afghanistan, the U.S. succeeded in removing the Taliban from power after the attacks of September 11, 2001. But after two decades of war, the Taliban returned to power once again when American forces withdrew.
These experiences show how difficult it is to reshape another country through military force alone.
President Trump may now be realising that Iran is not a weak or easily intimidated nation. Iranians have a long history, strong national pride, and deep resistance to foreign intervention. They are unlikely to surrender simply because bombs fall on their cities.
Perhaps the most disturbing lesson of this war is the weakness of international institutions. Organisations such as the United Nations appear powerless to stop the fighting. Their resolutions and appeals carry little weight when powerful nations decide to act on their own. Critics often describe these institutions as “paper tigers” — impressive in appearance but ineffective in practice.
Wars driven by personal ambitions, political survival, or vague goals rarely end well. They bring destruction, suffering, and instability far beyond the original battlefield. For this reason, the war must end sooner rather than later. The people of the U.S. and Israel must ask difficult questions of their leaders and demand accountability.
Humanity cannot afford another endless war. Peace, however imperfect, will always be better than a conflict that has no clear purpose and no visible end.