Despite broken ceasefire, Trump has walked the talk like few other leaders

The shattered peace deal is a setback in the quest to end the Israel and Iran war, but the apparent destruction of Iran’s nuclear facilities is a remarkable achievement that puts Trump’s predecessors to shame, writes James Morrow.

Not long after Donald Trump announced a US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Iran – signed off with a jaunty “thank you for your attention to this matter!” – doubts started to creep in as to whether it was legitimate.

Various Iran-linked social media accounts disclaimed any knowledge of a deal.

Then, someone inside the Islamic republic gave the order for several deadly missile barrages to be fired against Israel well beyond the supposed deal’s deadline. At least four civilians were killed when an Iranian missile slammed into a civilian neighbourhood in Beersheba.

Not surprisingly, Israel hit back, having been given all the excuse it needed. So much for peace.

So, are the prospects for an end to the war dead? Yes, for the moment.

IIsraeli soldiers and rescue workers carry a body from a residential building destroyed by the Iranian missile strike in Beersheba, Israel. Picture: AP Photo/Bernat Armangue

But even so, consider that Trump has already accomplished something remarkable.

For decades, American presidents have said that there was no way Iran would be allowed to acquire nukes.

In 1995 Bill Clinton said: “To do nothing more as Iran continues its pursuit of nuclear weapons would be disastrous”. Every president since mouthed some similar form of words, though none ever did much about the problem beyond sanctions.

One president, Barack Obama, made things incalculably worse with his so-called “Iran deal” that let Tehran keep working on its nuclear program for (ahem) civilian purposes while also loosening sanctions, freeing up funds that were diverted to terror groups like Hamas and Hezbollah.

US President Donald Trump has acomplished something remarkable. Picture: Getty Images

If the reports are accurate – and there is still the open question of whether any enriched uranium got out – Trump may have, with the help of the US Air Force, ended this problem once and for all.

The next task, ending Iran’s perpetual state of war with the world, is clearly going to be tougher.

Among other things, there remains the question of leadership. As of this writing, it is not even clear who is calling the shots in Iran.

It is not even clear whether or not the Ayatollah Khamenei is still alive.

And Iran is running out of moves. Even if it manages to posture with a few more rounds of missile strikes, breaking the ceasefire. Iran doesn’t have much ammo left to keep fighting.

Iran’s leadership, what’s left of them, are deeply unpopular at home and don’t have many friends on the world stage.

Once thought to be a vital part of the new axis that also includes Russia, China, and North Korea, the mullahs are quickly discovering that there is no honour among thieves or dictators.

China’s Xi Jinping has precisely zero interest in seeing the conflict widen, given that 80 per cent of his nation’s oil and gas comes through the nearby Strait of Hormuz.

Supporters of regime change in Iran rally in Los Angeles. Picture: Getty Images/AFP

Russia’s Vladimir Putin is loathe to throw in with either side of Iran’s fight with Israel, given Moscow’s close ties to Jerusalem.

Earlier this week, before a meeting with Iran’s foreign minister, Putin said the discussion “gives us a chance to … think together about how it would be possible to get out of this situation.”

North Korea? Lord knows they have enough problems of their own.

And pretty much the entire Sunni Arab world, which has no more desire to live in the shadow of a Shi’ite Iranian nuclear arsenal, would be happy to see the mullahs de-fanged if not deposed. Qatar has lodged a diplomatic protest over Iran’s missile attack on an air base on its territory.

Emergency responders work at a building where at least four people died in a missile strike on June 24, 2025 in Beersheba, Israel. Picture: Getty Images

Internally, too, the regime is unpopular. In 2009, much to America’s great disgrace, then-president Barack Obama failed to support the so-called “Green Revolution” uprising against the Tehran regime. Despite its vast oil and gas reserves Iran remains desperately poor (unlike nearby Gulf States) with a per capita GPD of around US$4000 per year.

Which brings up the question of regime change – something that has had a bad name since the disastrous aftermath of Saddam Hussein’s overthrow in 2003.

With his deal now broken this will be a great temptation for Trump, but one which he should be wary of.

President Trump has shown decisive leadership against Iran where the likes of Bill Clinton and Barack Obama equivocated. Picture: Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

Iran’s leadership deserves to go for a million crimes, and Americans would be glad to see the back of a regime that stormed the US embassy in Tehran in 1979 and took diplomats hostage for 444 days, as well as its sponsorship of the 1983 bombing of Marine barracks in Lebanon that killed 258 servicemen and diplomats.

Yet if the regime is to collapse it should do so under its own weight: Already there are rumours that an exit is being negotiated for the ayatollahs and some sort of provisional government involving the reformist president may take charge.

Trump has been smart to balance Americans’ support for an end to the nuclear program with their worry about boots on the ground.

Whatever Iran does next, he’ll need to stay this course if he wants voters to thank him for his attention to this matter.

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