{"id":4789,"date":"2026-08-03T05:11:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T05:11:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4789"},"modified":"2026-08-03T05:11:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T05:11:12","slug":"as-trump-balks-again-at-escalating-war-iran-smells-blood-in-the-water-and-looks-to-exploit-its-newfound-strategic-advantage-experts-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4789","title":{"rendered":"As Trump balks again at escalating war, Iran smells \u2018blood in the water\u2019 and looks to exploit its newfound strategic advantage, experts say"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>But while he attributed his latest reversal to U.S. allies pleading with him to give diplomacy another chance, experts also see signs Iran is gaining the upper hand.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4787\">As AI creates more entrepreneurs and a skills mismatch, Gen Z faces the choice of being a specialist or a \u2018general-purpose nerd\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s as Tehran has used its proxies to expand the war across the region, most notably Houthis rebels threatening ships in the Red Sea that are trying to use the Bab el-Mandeb Strait to bypass the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>At the same time, Iran has warned its Persian Gulf neighbors they will be targets in the event of a renewed bombardment after demonstrating that its long-range weapons can evade U.S. air defenses.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIran and its clients see blood in the water and see a benefit for all of them in escalating and entering the fray,\u201d Afshon Ostovar, an Iran expert at the Naval Postgraduate School, told the <em>Financial Times<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>He added that their goal is to prolong the conflict instead of inflicting more severe damage as Iran looks to exploit less political endurance on the other side.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo the longer it continues, the weaker the resolve of their enemies will be,\u201d Ostovar explained. \u201cThat is how they see it.\u201d<\/p>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Indeed, Trump\u2019s approval ratings on his handling of the economy have slumped alongside his numbers on the Iran war, with support slipping even among Republicans.<\/p>\n<p>And now that midterm elections are just a few months away and gas prices are back up again, Tehran sees leverage in the U.S. political calendar.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>An Iranian diplomat told the <em>Wall Street Journal<\/em> that the regime is prepared to take advantage of Trump political vulnerability and would consider preemptive strikes if talks fail.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>That aggressive stance was on display last week, when Iran launched unprovoked attacks on U.S. bases in what Central Command called an \u201cattempted surprise attack.\u201d<\/p>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>By contrast, Trump\u2019s continued restraint comes despite Iran crossing his red line for resuming all-out war after it killed U.S. troops in Jordan last month.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4785\">AI is creating a two-speed jobs market in the UK, Indeed says<\/a><\/p>\n<p>To be sure, the U.S. still retains significant military assets in the region and continues to enforce a naval blockade on Iran that\u2019s causing more economic pain. <\/p>\n<p>But the U.S. and its allies have also severely depleted stockpiles of interceptors needed to repel Iranian attacks, making critical pieces of their energy infrastructure more at risk.<\/p>\n<p>Global energy markets have also sharply drawn down inventories of crude oil and refined products, with analysts warning that \u201ctank bottoms\u201d will be just around the corner unless the Strait of Hormuz reopens soon.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The combined effect is that the overall playing field has tilted in favor of the Islamic Republic.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLast night\u2019s events underscore a reality that is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore: for now, Iran appears to hold the strategic advantage in deterrence,\u201d Dennis Citrinowicz, a former Israeli intelligence official who specialized in Iran, posted on X. \u201cIt has succeeded in creating a form of mutual deterrence that is shaping Washington\u2019s calculations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Despite suffering heavy losses at that start of the war, Iran has since shown it can hold the global economy hostage by threatening maritime chokepoints and its Gulf neighbors, he added.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman spoke directly with Trump on Saturday to express concern over the plans for massive new U.S. strikes on Iran, sources told Axios.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The kingdom\u2019s de facto ruler reportedly urged Trump to de-escalate and refrain from launching the attacks, days after the Saudi defense minister conveyed a similar message.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPresident Trump may still decide to order military action. But the fact that Washington continues to hesitate suggests that it recognizes the risks of escalation and is not convinced that a broader campaign would compel Iran to back down,\u201d Citrinowicz wrote.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4783\">After canceling Iran strikes, Trump says\u00a0negotiations will resume Monday afternoon while Tehran continues Hormuz talks with Oman<\/a><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Last night&#8217;s events underscore a reality that is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore: for now, Iran appears to hold the strategic advantage in deterrence.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4788,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[103],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-iran"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - 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