Never listen to what combatants say. This is called war propaganda operation. Don’t waste your time.
War propaganda operations mean you should ignore what fighting sides claim, saving time by focusing on actions instead of words.
Key Points of War Propaganda
• False Claims: Sides lie to make themselves look good.
• Hidden Truths: Facts take time to come out after fights end.
• Real Actions: Watch what armies do, not what they say.
“ISTANBUL -- The U.S. and Iran are being drawn into an escalating conflict as they are running up against the limits of what they can achieve through military force.
The conflict widened this past week after Iranian-allied militants in Yemen began striking ships transiting a Red Sea chokepoint, driving oil prices above $100 a barrel Thursday.
The U.S. meanwhile has escalated its bombing campaign in Iran in recent days, striking throughout the country during the most intense period of fighting since President Trump and Israel began bombing Iran in late February.
Trump and other administration leaders have threatened to ratchet up the military campaign against Iran, including by striking a suspected Iranian nuclear facility at Iran's Pickaxe Mountain or by attacking Iran's infrastructure such as power plants in response to attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
"The price will continue to get higher every single night until they come to their senses," Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters Thursday at a summit in Manila, citing Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi's description of Tehran's approach as "an eye for an eye."
"The president's policy is a head for an eye," Rubio said. "I mean, honestly, that is what it is going to be." He added that Trump would decide whether to escalate in the coming days.
The challenge facing Washington and Tehran is that both governments have shown a willingness to escalate, but neither is capable of achieving a decisive advantage over the other. The stalemate heightens the risk that the U.S. and Iran could be drawn into more months of fighting as both sides attempt to generate leverage, military analysts say.
"There is an escalatory dynamic now," said Alan Eyre, a former senior U.S. diplomat who participated in negotiations with Iran. "I don't think the United States administration has a clear strategic concept of what it is trying to do."
Trump could escalate further by attacking Iran's civilian infrastructure, which likely would trigger Iranian retaliation against globally important energy infrastructure throughout the Middle East.
Even if Trump were to use a small nuclear weapon to attack one of Iran's underground atomic facilities, that would be merely a symbolic blow against the regime, said Hamidreza Azizi, a visiting fellow specializing in Iran at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs.
"None of these are going to fundamentally change the situation," he said of Trump's options. "I see it as both sides reaching the limits of what military means can achieve."
Iran showed it still has room to maneuver.
The Iranian-allied Houthi militia in Yemen said it was launching a maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia and threatened shipping in the Bab al-Mandeb strait that connects the Red Sea with the Indian Ocean.
The group said it targeted two Saudi oil tankers Wednesday, while international maritime officials confirmed at least one vessel was struck.
Any sustained attacks on ships transiting Bab al-Mandeb would expand Iran's strategy of intensifying economic pressure on the U.S. and its allies. Iran's efforts to close shipping through the Strait of Hormuz since March have caused he worst supply disruption in the history of the oil market.
The Houthis, who control a large part of Yemen, including the capital San'a, are an important ally for Tehran, though they have remained largely on the sidelines. The group receives weapons and training from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, but is seen as operating with a larger degree of independence from Tehran compared with Iran-backed militants in Iraq or Lebanon's Hezbollah.
"The Iranians certainly gained an escalation advantage with the Houthi action," said Byran Clark, a former senior U.S. Navy official and now a senior fellow at the conservative Hudson Institute in Washington. "I don't think they have escalation dominance because the U.S. can still choose to attack civilian targets and adopt a total-war approach."
The Houthis' involvement expands an already complex problem for the U.S. military, which faced difficulties during weeks of bombing against the militia group last year in a campaign launched by Trump called Operation Rough Rider.
During the campaign, the Houthis downed more than a half-dozen U.S. Reaper drones and launched a missile attack on the USS Harry S. Truman, forcing the carrier to make a hard turn that sent an F/A-18 jet rolling into the Red Sea.
The surge in oil prices showed how the Houthis action could counter Trump's ability to lower oil prices by talking about the potential for de-escalation, also known as "jawboning" the market.
"Expanding the conflict to the Houthis could be a counter-jawboning strategy," said Erik Meyersson, the chief emerging markets strategist at the Swedish bank SEB. "It doesn't necessarily mean that the Houthis are going to launch as many strikes as the Iranians are. It just means that you do one or two, and every now and then you squeeze that button, and then that counters Trump."” [1]
1. World News: U.S., Iran Stuck in a Cycle of Escalation --- Trump threatens to intensify bombing, while Tehran's allies widen the conflict. Malsin, Jared. Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 25 July 2026: A8.
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