After 40 days and 40 nights of fighting in the Middle East, both sides claimed victory as they entered into a fragile two-week ceasefire, the durability of which is still highly uncertain.
‘Total and complete victory,’ Trump insisted in a telephone interview with AFP after the ceasefire was announced on Tuesday. ‘100 per cent. No question about it.’
‘Operation Epic Fury was a historic and overwhelming victory on the battlefield. A capital V military victory by any measure,’ defence secretary Pete Hegseth chimed in, adding: ‘Iran begged for this ceasefire, and we all know it.’
But as the dust begins to settle, it is not entirely clear that the United States or Israel have accomplished their military objectives in Iran, or emerged better off since before the war.
The Islamic Republic, while severely militarily weakened, still retains a large quantity of undamaged missiles, and the regime has been destabilised but is still intact.
And despite Trump’s repeated demands for Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or a ‘whole civilisation will die’, the vital waterway through which 20 per cent of the world’s oil and gas is transported is still shutdown.
The two sides are also arguing about the terms of the accepted 10-point peace deal, with the White House insisting it bars Iran from having enriched uranium – a key tenet the regime denies.
So amid this shaky pause in hostilities, which countries have emerged truly victorious, and who are the losers?
Hellbound and Down 