Amateur Hour

Amid all the coverage of the Iran war, we often lose sight of the biggest victims of its failure. The people of Iran who were told, “the hour of your freedom is at hand.” That hour has come and gone, and now we’re six months into a war that was sold as a quick fix. “The Trump administration has replaced its military war with an economic one, but the result is likely to be no different, analysts said, with a lack of American clarity about goals, a decline in American credibility and a strategic defeat. One thing remains constant, however. The ordinary people of Iran are bearing the brunt of the war, victims of both the United States and their own leaders.” Six Months In, Iran’s Regime Stands, U.S. Goals Remain Unmet.

+ AP: The Iran war has changed the Middle East, but not in the way its architects had hoped. And this is a key point to remember: “In the runup to the war, the Islamic Republic appeared more vulnerable than at any point since Saddam Hussein’s Iraq invaded in 1980.”

+ Bloomberg (Gift Article): How the War in Iran Is Redrawing the Global Energy Map. “A handful of new reports show how, by dramatically raising fossil-fuel prices, the conflict has also been pushing governments, companies and consumers towards renewable energy, with a clear set of winners and losers emerging.”