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Source: https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/defense-news/article-894011
Trump Turns Time into a Weapon as Iran War Shifts to Economic Pressure Phase
(Jerusalem Post) Herb Keinon - When President Trump extended the ceasefire with Iran, it was said that he backed down. But that would be a misreading of the situation. The bombing may have paused, but the pressure on the Islamic Republic has not. It has merely changed form. For six weeks, the emphasis was on military force, with U.S. and Israeli strikes designed to degrade Iran's military infrastructure and nuclear capabilities. That objective was largely achieved. Iran's military and nuclear capabilities are not today what they were before Feb. 28. What Washington is now attempting is to turn those battlefield gains into leverage through sustained economic pressure. Such pressure does not produce immediate results. It is gradual. Trump's calculation appears to be that a strategy that reduces immediate risk to American lives - even if it brings economic discomfort - is more sustainable domestically than a return to high-intensity military escalation. Any pause in active military operations carries the possibility that Iran will use the time to regroup and reposition assets that have not yet been targeted. But it does the same for the other side as well. For the U.S. and Israel, this period allows for replenishment, repositioning, rest for pilots and air crews, and the quiet preparation of next steps should the current approach fail. Trump is attempting to turn time from an Iranian asset into an Iranian liability. Every day that passes without a decision is another day of lost revenue, another day of economic strain, another day in which the pressure does not ease but tightens. This is no longer about dramatic airstrikes. It is about endurance.