On February 28, 2026, the U.S. and Israel launched a massive, coordinated military campaign against Iran, codenamed ‘Operation Epic Fury’. The campaign targeted Iranian military command, air defenses, and nuclear sites, seeking to force a regime change in Tehran and completely dismantle Iran’s nuclear and missile programs.

At the start of the conflict, the U.S. administration adopted a maximalist approach, demanding total submission from Tehran. This policy mirrored Donald Trump’s previous ‘maximum pressure’ campaign, which sought to force Iran into compliance by combining severe economic sanctions with military threats.

The Strait of Hormuz is a vital global trade choke point through which one-fifth of the world’s petroleum passes. When the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran, Tehran closed the strait, causing immediate global fuel shortages and soaring prices. This severe economic threat forced the U.S. to seek a deal rather than continue military strikes.

A naval blockade is a hostile act under international law where a nation uses warships to prevent access to another nation’s coast. In March 2026, the U.S. imposed a strict blockade on Iranian ports, halting oil exports. Reverting this blockade is a core Iranian demand in exchange for reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

Since 1979, the U.S. has frozen billions of dollars in Iranian assets in foreign banks as part of sanctions. Furthermore, the conflict of 2026 escalated to Lebanon, where Israel engaged in heavy fighting with Hezbollah, an Iranian-aligned group. A ceasefire extension including Lebanon is vital to prevent regional resurgence of war.

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), signed in 2015 by Iran and world powers (including the U.S. under Obama), restricted Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief. In 2018, Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the U.S. from the deal, calling it ‘disastrous’ and reinstating severe sanctions, which laid the groundwork for future conflicts.

The term ‘endless wars’ or ‘forever wars’ refers to prolonged U.S. military interventions in the Middle East, such as in Afghanistan and Iraq, which cost trillions of dollars and thousands of lives without clear victories. The editorial warns that attempting to force Iran into submission via diplomacy could lead to another such prolonged, unwinnable conflict.