Iran may have found the move Trump can never play
Original article:
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/03/22/world/iran-war-oil-trump
Yeah, going into a negotiation with a very public message of KISS THE BOOT OR SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES will generally have people going pretty far to keep it from looking like you’re getting your way. It’s a matter of dignity, and a lot of people take that quite seriously.
Trump can’t back down. He has no other method of operation than application of further force to make his opponent yield.
You will do what I want, you’re making me do this. This is your fault I have to hurt you more. Anything you do in retaliation is your fault and not a justifiable reaction to what I’m doing to you and I will hurt you harder for everything you do to defend yourself.
He’s an abuser.
If he were to stop, that would mean losing face and the possibility be were wrong.
No narcissist can do that.
Sure he can, narcissists do it all the time. Wallstreet even coined the term “TACO” because he does it so often.
All he has to do is declare victory and move on to something else.
So he is saying that Iran is not responsible for *checks notes* Iran selectively and deliberately hitting ships of third party nations not involved in the war? That is not how moral responsibility works. How old is he, 5 years old?
If the bigger player is not respecting international law, why should Iran? Also, I haven’t heard of any third party country being hit, you might want to share some sources on that claim.
Strait of Hormuz is not international waters. They are fully allowed to close it, at least on their side of the strait. When people ignore laws, usually there is a penalty and enforcement. Closure here is enforced by missiles.
Whether Oman is a party in this war (given their harboring of US bases and military assets) is up to debate.
They are fully allowed to close it
According to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), ships have a right to transit international straits like the Straight of Hormuz. Article 38 to be exact: https://www.un.org/depts/los/convention_agreements/texts/unclos/unclos_e.pdf
at least on their side of the strait.
And as you say, their side. But it is quite clear that Iran has closed the whole thing, also the part Iran has no right to.
The US bombed a fucking school and killed over 100 kids. The US and Israel started the attacks on civilians.
The attack on the school was not deliberate. While you obviously think so, nobody with a working understanding of ethics thinks that an accidental attack on civilians gives the other side the moral right to also attack civilians.
So where’s the formal apology?
There is not.
I dont know. Generally it gets a bit muddy at such a stage. Are they party to the war? Did they expressly forbid USA from using military bases to resupply from/attack Iran? Did Oman cushly stay silent and complicit playing both sides? Are trade ships that are trading with the enemy, not expressly and officially guaranteed by Oman not valid targets in a strait majorly controlled by Iran (even the Oman territorial waters are a bit silly once you take into account the geography)? (Not talking about people, but about infrastructure and supply chain)
If anything, Iran, in its desperation, is fighting well against the superest most bigliest ultra fascist state in the making.
To be clear: this war is Islamofascists vs Judeochristian fascists
Generally it gets a bit muddy at such a stage.
I think international law is actually pretty clear, in general. You don’t get to shoot at every ship that moves.
Are trade ships that are trading with the enemy, not expressly and officially guaranteed by Oman not valid targets
Iran is shooting all the ships. It is pretty clear that “legality” is not a concern Iran has.
If anything, Iran, in its desperation, is fighting well against the superest most bigliest ultra fascist state in the making.
This seems to be the root. You see that Trump/USA is evil here, which it is. And then somehow conclude that Iran must be good, if Iran is fighting against Trump.
Iran is evil too. Fucking evil. Killing innocent civilians deliberately and laughing at it evil.
There is a trend of ignoring how evil some of the Muslim groupings in the Middle East are. That has got to stop. It almost seem like “white man’s burden” - as if people think Muslims don’t have agency to know right from wrong.
There’s this whole argument about World Policing being Bad ™. But even besides that:
The US is also currently murdering, kidnapping and disappearing thousands of it’s citizens, so it’s not for the moral high ground they’re bombing civilian infrastructure.
Besides, the war will almost certainly lead to more suffering, and probably also lives lost, as a consequence of the destruction, fear, oppression and power struggle following it. So it’s not for humanitarian reasons they’re disrupting international trade and relations.
The US has also made it very clear it only intends to follow international law and treaties when it benefits them, as evidenced with Greenland, Venezuela, Cuba, trade wars, trade and protection treaty violations. So it’s not for any rules based order they’re planlessly and goallessly staging a billion dollar/day terror campaign.
It seems the US is just exercising it’s might and terrorising the world because it wants to. I wonder how long before someone gets fed up with it…
Like, I am absolutely not blanket defending the US under Trump. That shit is straight out fascism. Nowhere have I said the US is acting morally or legally with regards to Iran.
There are still some vestages of pre-fascist US in e.g. the US state department. So sometimes the US will actually justify their actions legally. So not literally every single thing the US does is illegal. But plenty of things are.
But you are apparently defending Iran’s illegal behavior, by pointing to the US’s illegal behavior. That is not how ethics works… two wrong does not make one right. And it is kinda wild that people like you often end up defending the blatantly evil fundamentalist undemocratic terrorist Iran.
If you re-read my comment you’ll see that I’m nowhere defending Iran’s conduct, so let’s address that.
When unilaterally attacked by a terrorist state neighbour supported by the largest military in the world, I do feel Iran has the moral right to use assymetric warfare to survive. Even more so when that doesn’t cause mass civilian casualty.
Do I condone the oppression the Iranian government did before the war? No.
Do I still believe Iran has the right to sovereignty? Definitely and absolutely.
It is no business of the US to meddle in the political internalities of a country not a credible threat. And even less so at the behest of a rampaging genocidal state using terror to keep neighbours from intervening.
To put it into a simplified analogy: are you arguing dishonestly putting words in my mouth? Yes. Does that give me the right to burn your house down? No.
In the real world it’s both the US treating dishonestly and doing the burning though.
I was about to post an actual reply to this shitpost, but the effort just isnt worth it.
As in the russian special military operation, the invading party is free to just take their ball and go home, but wont because “pride”. Womp womp
What does international law say about assassinating heads of state
What does international law say about bombing industrial infrastructure
What does international law say about bombing hospitals and schools
ITS NOT WHATABOUTISM TO TALK ABOUT THE MILITARY ACTIONS OF BOTH SIDES OF A WAR; SHUT THE FUCK UP THIS ISNT FORMALIZED DEBATE; AND EVEN IF IT WERE, YOU ARENT USING THE LOGICAL FALLACIES CORRECTLY ANYWAY
International laws for the but not for me is not whataboutism
Pathetic response
I guess you’re right about the international law. But then again, it’s been out the window for a while.
I didn’t write any conclusions about Iran regime being non evil. But looking at history, you’d be a fool not to see its instability rooted in US/Israel/UK domination goals.
The excerpts from UN assemblies I saw, Iran was quite repetitive, but spoke much more eloquently than the US. Make of that what you will, in the age of ai slop.
you’d be a fool not to see its instability rooted in US/Israel/UK domination goals.
Yes the US has fucked up bigly in Iraq and Iran. There is a pattern - fuck Republicans.
But in many cases, the US has also created stability. The 1991 Gulf War was fundamentally a stability exercise - Iraq started that war by invading Kuwait. Likely Saddam would gladly have invaded Saudi Arabia, if the US had not enforced the status quo in the region.
The US was the world’s policeman. Sometimes they did some shit, but sometimes they kept the peace. Over all, I think people were glad they were there. But keeping the peace involves force or the threat of force sometimes, and it seems to me that some people only see the violence or threat of violence, and not the peace created. As in the 1991 Gulf War, for example.
Iran was quite repetitive, but spoke much more eloquently than the US.
Iran’s political leadership has shown far more competence than Trump’s administration, no question. Trump apparently started this war without knowing that Iran would close the straight of Hormuz, which random people on the street would have known would happen. Trump’s administration is literally idiots - not just people I disagree with.
The US was the world’s policeman
You know when people said that, it was derisive right? The US wasn’t elected to the role by some body at the UN. Americans decided themeselves it was their role, as history’s great exception, to decide matters across the globe.
Also, hilarious to say the Gulf War was the good and just war and the Iraq war was a big fuck up, considering they were both the product of the same political dynasty. As if one did not inextricably lead to the other.
They did just defeat Trump … he has no respect for anything.
He respects Vladimir Putin. Or at least his cock.
That’s envy. He dreams of being like Putin … of course MAGA basically made him that way.
LIES! FALSE!
What about the respect for the hard work child traffickers put in? What about the redirect for other dictators? What about the respect for other child rapists?That is envy and sense of entitlement to “his share” … its almost respect, but is still just the formless emotions of a soulless man baby.
I mean, there were 2 ships hit with drones… there are reasons for the insurers to be afraid
Edit source; https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c80j4rln8zmo
And I don’t think those sea mines are American.
I don’t think you two are getting the point. It is the way it is because of Trump’s illegal war.
Being invaded by an asshole authoritarian doesn’t really justify attacking literally everyone in reach with arms funneled in from two other asshole authoritarians.
Not that I’m particularly fond of Exxon Mobil, Dubai, or Qatar.
There is no “good side” in this fight.
All of the people Iran has attacked are directly aiding and abetting the criminal Americans.
So when the USA warmongers and preemptively attacks it’s bad
When Iran warmongers and preemptively attacks it’s good
Got it, understood.
I’m not saying it’s good or bad, I’m saying it’s not the escalation you’re claiming it is. Iran is in an existential war against the world’s strongest superpower. It’s allowed to defend itself, and they have deemed that the best way to do that is to disrupt the global economy to the point that the war isn’t worth it. It’s quite an immediately effective strategy, too, and will hasten the end of the war far faster than bombing schools or whatever it is that the US’s strategy is.
Iran is not in any such war against the USA, against Israel maybe though, only the IRGC is at risk of disappearing.
It doesn’t. But justification stops being a concern when the most powerful country on Earth decided to extinguish you.
They’re mainly attacking US bases and related infrastructure in those countries, which is 100% justified
“mainly” but they’ve also damaged civillian airports while firing hundreds of missiles and drones, as well as the aforementioned cargo ships. The only thing keeping casualties down is how ineffective Iranian/Russian/Chinese weapons have been against US air defence so far.
Don’t paint Iran as nice guys. Or even as civilized. These are more racist, more homophobic, more religious nutjob, than any Grand Wizard of the KKK ever was. Part of their M.O. is literally just sowing chaos and straight-up civilian-killing terror.
Here’s the rub - the UN charter doesn’t have a seperate set of rules for countries you don’t think are civilized. That’s not how international law works.
We either try to have a rules based international order or we don’t. Without it, we sow the seeds for nuclear proliferation and great power / law of the jungle politics.
Right now Trump is aligned with Iran, China, and Russia in attempting to dismantle the rules-based order.
Europe, S Korea, Japan, Australia, Canada, Mexico largely trying to preserve what they can
Eh, the racist bit is really underserved. They probably have the least racist society of the region, that is still horrible by liberal standards, but it’s less worse than everybody around them.
Uh… Setting aside how half (but not all, to be clear) of what you just said is propaganda, how does that have anything to do with what I said?
not just illegal – arguably like every US action since WWII it’s not legally even a war
But the reason it’s as f–ed up as it is is because Trump went in without
- NATO which has things like minesweepers and actual working littoral combat ships
- Getting the needed US aircraft carriers into place before telling Iranians to revolt
- Getting the needed US LCS minesweepers into place (oops they are both under maintenance RN)
- Getting support ahead of time from allies like Europe, Japan, S Korea, GCC states, all of whom could be exerting economic, political, and even military support RN
- Having a fucking plan for how to reopen the Strait which every State Department policywonk and pre-Trump Navy Admiral knew would be Iran’s first move
- Having a fucking plan for shaheds and USV water drones which are now granting Iran naval control and are built decentralized on the cheap in basements, you are not likely to bomb them all
Getting the needed US aircraft carriers into place before telling Iranians to revolt
Didn’t they bring two additional aircraft carriers into the region like a month before the “preemptive” strike that kicked this off? Also heard rumblings that the US has been moving quite a lot of aircraft into the region since like December
It may weasel out of being a war by US law, but by international law it’s no less a war than the Russian “special military operation”.
Uh… this war would not be less fucked up if it was run more competently. It’d be worse, in fact, as can be seen in Iraq.
Getting rid of the religious fascist terror-exporting state of Iran is a worthy goal.
Blowing everything up is not a useful nor moral path toward that goal.
Yes, they fear the hot war Trump started without consulting any allies (except Bibi) nor any preparation
Yes, they fear Irans response to the hot war Trump started. Why is this such a difficult concept to grasp?
Imagine all it takes is the US and Israel to legit say say sorry to Iran and show Iran respect in the future to restore energy security and know you are fucked because of pride
Given the people involved, ‘all’ is doing a lot of heavy lifting in that sentence.
