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President Trump’s Iran Attack Did Not Increase Deterrence on the World Stage
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian attend a documents signing ceremony in Moscow, Russia, Jan. 17, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina/Pool
The US strike on Iran was a surprising military and political development. It went completely against President Trump’s long held beliefs and publicly declared intentions about staying out of international conflict — even if it made good on his promise to stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
It is still too early to ascertain whether the action achieved its immediate goal — the destruction of or a substantial delay in Iran’s nuclear program — and it will take months, or perhaps even longer, to confirm the results one way or another.
There was, however, another dimension to the US’ decision to attack Iran. Iran is just one participant in the “Revanchist” coalition, consisting of China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea, that is challenging American world hegemony. The strike, intent on physically destroying Iranian infrastructure, was meant to send a clear and unequivocal message to other coalition members as well: the US was back as a power player, ready to exercise its strength to preserve its power and achieve its strategic goals. Did the message reach the addressees and did the recipients read it correctly?
The strikes delivered by the US against Iran’s nuclear sites were carefully calibrated and extremely cautious. The bravado coming from the White House and the Department of Defense is artfully obfuscating this uncomfortable fact — yet Beijing and Moscow were paying attention. The US may not be a “Paper Tiger” as some have suggested, but neither is it a crazy beast many American officials try to portray the country as after the attack.
The strike generated no deterrence vis-a-vis Russia. In the weeks that followed, Russia has dramatically intensified its air attacks against Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure, and has increased the pressure along the entire front in Eastern and Southern Ukraine as part of its well advertised summer offensive.
A serious phone conversation between President Trump and Putin produced zero results, leading President Trump to finally admit in public that his Russian counterpart does not desire peace.
It is absolutely clear that American strikes in Iran have not changed Russia’s strategic calculus in Ukraine or towards the US. Putin still thinks he holds all the cards.
The strike, however, did produce a visible negative consequence for Russia. It exposed Russia’s limitations as a global power. After much noise about the friendship with Iran, and Russia being the main buyer of Iranian drones and ballistic missiles, Russia did absolutely nothing to defend its ally or minimize the damage from the war. Russia looked absolutely helpless as Israel decimated Iran and then the US delivered its bunker busters at the nuclear sites. Short of a few sentences of criticism directed at the US (and Israel) and of encouragement to Iran, Russia provided no help at all. That military and political impotence has not escaped the attention of Russia’s “friends” in Africa and Latin America. And the rest of the world took notice as well.
Nor does China seem bothered by America’s show of power. Its support of Russia has not changed. As recently as last week, its foreign minister, during the meeting with the EU officials, admitted that China cannot afford letting Russia lose its war in Ukraine. China’s negotiating position as it pertains to the tariffs has not changed since the strike. Its military build up continues and the threats against Taiwan grow more ominous by day.
If the strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities had more broad strategic goals, then that part of the mission turned out to be a failure. Iran’s nuclear program has suffered a setback — though it is unclear how severe and for how long. So far the strikes have not led to any political resolution or even more productive negotiations with Iran. And even though President Trump has proved he is not afraid to act, America’s foes are still not considering his newly acquired aggressiveness to be a threat to their nefarious designs.
The author lives and works in Silicon Valley, California. He is a founding member of San Francisco Voice for Israel.
The post President Trump’s Iran Attack Did Not Increase Deterrence on the World Stage first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.