Trump’s constant goalpost shifting
Rashed Rahman
Every day, the news from Washington about the Iran war is wearingly the same. President Donald Trump seems to be in the habit of constantly shifting even agreed goalposts, reiterating with new verbiage demands that have reached closure, and accompanying all this shilly-shallying with threats of further military aggression. That leaves Iran justifiably reluctant to trust Trump’s everyday menu of ‘new’ and old demands, without any end in sight. The underlying reason may not be just Trumpian idiosyncrasies but in fact the failure of the US-Israel combine to achieve any of the declared (or undeclared) objectives of the war, chief amongst these being regime change. Naturally this fills the Iranian people with pride for having held off the mightiest military power in the world (the US) and the most aggressive (Israel) and salvaged its honour and respect in the eyes of the world.
On May 31, 2026, Trump once again proposed more changes to what he called a “largely negotiated” agreement, ostensibly to “toughen” the deal, leading to Iran’s parliamentary speaker and lead negotiator Bagher Ghalibaf responding with a statement that Tehran does not trust Washington and demanding tangible outcomes instead of “words and promises”. Speaking at a virtual session of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, he said: “There is no trust in the enemy’s words and promises. Our only criterion is to achieve tangible results before we fulfil our commitments in return.” He went on to reiterate that Iran will not approve any agreement until it is sure that the decision protected the rights of the Iranian people. CNN reported that the president insisted on “tougher language surrounding Iran’s nuclear commitments (Iran has consistently, for decades, reaffirmed it does not contemplate making nuclear weapons) and its pledge to reopen the Straits of Hormuz” (Iran envisages a temporary toll on shipping through the Straits pending the lifting of the US embargo on its ports and the fulfilment of its demand for war reparations).
While Trump’s buffoonery on Iran continues, Israel appears to have been given a free hand to continue its aggression into, and capture of, southern Lebanese territory as part of its anti-Hezbollah campaign. It bears recalling that Iran has insisted Israel’s aggression in Lebanon must cease as part of any solution of the Iran war. Killings of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza and provocations by Israeli settlers at Al-Aqsa all form part of the by now familiar Israeli expansionist habit. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has given the Israeli military instructions to expand Israel’s control over 60 percent of Gaza to 70 percent. So much for the Gaza ceasefire. Meanwhile Trump’s much trumpeted Board of Peace for Gaza, which was touted as the instrument for turning Gaza into a Mediterranean Rivera, boasts of an empty kitty. Outlandish schemes by Trump, which later wither on the vine, are the hallmark of his crazy presidency.
In the process of the constant roiling by Trump, the world is left reeling at the destabilisation of oil flows and the global economy as a whole. Even the American public is paying for the inflationary effects of Trump’s mad adventure.
Israel’s seizure of a historic castle, Beaufort or Qalaat al-Chakif, in southern Lebanon is a repeat of its aggression against the country in 2000. France now feels a call for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council is called for. Condemnation of Israel's advance and capture of the castle by Arab regimes remains so much hot air without any tangible effect. None of this is likely to stay Israel’s bloody hand. It is disappointing that despite stirrings of protest earlier against Israel’s aggressive expansionism, it all seems to have ended in a whimper.
The world needs a campaign against Israeli expansionism at the expense of the benighted Palestinians and now their Lebanese brothers-in-arms and US aggression against Iran on the lines of the past glorious solidarity campaigns against the Vietnam War and South African apartheid. Or has internationalist solidarity too had its day?
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