Why Trump’s ‘quick, decisive’ war with Iran may stretch into 2027

Hegseth had promised a “quick, decisive blow” to avoid a longstanding conflict when the US launched its campaign against Iran. The latest development, however, indicates that the war may stretch well into next year, the Wall Street Journal reported, quoting people familiar with the matter.

Strained troops given longer deployment

The US currently has around 50,000 troops, 19 warships, fighter squadrons, air defence units, and paratroopers in the Middle East. The report says that the warship crew, air defence units and paratroopers are being ordered to remain in the region for longer than expected at the initial stage of the campaign.

Also read: Trump threatens fresh Iran strikes, boasts US has ‘near-total surveillance’ over the nation

While the deployment of Army air defence units has been extended from nine to 12 months, some of the units deployed in the Middle East from Europe and the Pacific have been in the region for over a year.

The situation of the US Navy is also similar, with 19 US warships, including two aircraft carriers and 13 guided-missile destroyers, stationed in the Middle East.

Destroyers USS Delbert D Black and USS Spruance were sent to the Middle East at the beginning of the war and are now helping to enforce the blockade imposed by the United States.

The report says the 300 personnel aboard each of the ships have been working for months at a stretch without taking regular breaks.

The deployments, according to the report, are straining US service members, their families and military equipment.

Trump confident of economic campaign

At this juncture, the Trump administration, in addition to military action, has vowed to squeeze Iran’s economy and threatened to impose sanctions on its trading partners. The report says the Trump administration believes the economic pressure campaign against Iran will bring its leadership to the negotiating table.

Trump is also privately discussing with his senior aides about declaring the war with Iran as over as he believes the US’s economic pressure on the country may force Tehran to abandon its nuclear programme, the report said.

Also read: US strikes kill 5 of wedding party in Iran, Tehran warns of ‘severe punishment’

"I like our position now much better, with almost total control of the Hormuz Strait, and their economy totally collapsing. They are just playing out the inevitable. When are the Iranian people going to rise up and fight?" Trump posted on social media.

Warns of additional strikes

Even though Trump’s aides worry that further escalation of the conflict could damage Republican candidates’ chances in the November midterm elections, the US president insists that electoral calculations play no role in his decisions about the war.

Despite the strain on US service members, Trump on Wednesday (September 2) warned that the United States remains fully prepared to carry out additional strikes on Iran “anytime we want.”

“We’re taking out a lot of ships; they can’t see them because they have no radar because we blew it up,” he said.

Also read: ‘No country should help Iran’: Rubio’s warning after Modi- Pezeshkian meeting

“We saw that they were building it. We see everything that they’re doing. They can’t move. They can’t go to the bathroom without us seeing it. So we saw that. We took it out. We took out some other things…” he said, boasting about American surveillance capabilities.

Having launched “Operation Economic Outcast” just last week to try to isolate Iran from its remaining global trade partners, the Trump administration also resumed strikes in recent days, prompting Iranian retaliation that has renewed concerns of an all-out regional war.

Vance refuses to give conflict a timeline

Meanwhile, US Vice President JD Vance on Thursday (September 3) rejected the use of the word “war” to describe the US fighting with Iran as he steered clear of predicting that the six-month-old conflict would be over by November's midterm elections, in which Republicans are trying to hang on to their narrow majorities in Congress.

Also read: The Iran war: Key terms and global flashpoints explained

“I wouldn't call it a war,” Vance said after being asked during a White House press briefing about whether the fighting could be wrapped up before voters cast their ballots in the November 3 congressional elections. “Right now, there is no active shooting.” Vance's assertion came even as Iran fired at US Gulf ally Kuwait on Thursday as it continued to retaliate for rounds of US strikes on Iran earlier in the week.

Vance's attempt to minimise the intensity of the fighting illuminates the difficult task at hand for Trump and his administration as he tries to persuade American voters to keep Republicans in control of Congress, even as the unpopular conflict — one the White House said at its outset would last a matter of weeks — has driven up gas prices and left consumers grappling with higher inflation.