Press TV – May 27, 2026
Leading American political theorist John Mearsheimer(pictured above) says the United States and Israel have failed in their war against Iran, emphasizing that Washington “does not know how to extricate itself” from the quagmire.
“At the beginning of the war, [US President Donald] Trump and [Israel’s prime minister Benjamin] Netanyahu thought a surprise and heavy military operation that would plunge Tehran into ‘shock and awe,’ along with what is called decapitation of the power pyramid, would quickly lead to victory. But they failed, and the war became protracted,” Mearsheimer said at an event titled Forum Focused on Iran.
Mearsheimer noted that all Persian Gulf Arab countries are deeply worried amid emerging reports showing US bases in the Persian Gulf have been damaged far more than initially stated.
He added that Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Qatar are all pleading with the US not to resume the war because they know the Islamic Republic has the capacity to retaliate and heavily hit targets in their countries if the war escalates.
Mearsheimer stressed that Washington has no clear plan to resolve the war, telling the audience, “This is going to have enormously negative consequences for all of you. You have to understand this. We are in a very difficult predicament in Iran, and it was predictable.”
‘Points of disagreements’
Commenting on the ongoing indirect talks between Washington and Tehran, Mearsheimer said there is a fundamental disagreement over sequencing.
“The central question is this: should we deal with the nuclear issue from the very beginning, or first create a general framework, end the war, open the Strait of Hormuz, and then address the nuclear issue? This is a critical issue,” he said.
The Americans, Mearsheimer said, deeply prefer to resolve the nuclear issue first because they believe that achieving a favorable outcome on that front would allow them to take a harder line on other matters.
Meanwhile, Iran has asserted it is after a permanent end to the imposed war before any discussion on the nuclear issue.
Mearsheimer stated that Iran has “succeeded” in advancing its position, adding that the war has stopped, exchanges of fire have ended, the Strait of Hormuz has been reopened, and the blockade has been lifted while Iran is to receive its frozen assets and sanctions relief to sell oil, with the nuclear issue and the future of the Strait deferred to a second round of negotiations.
He also pointed to Washington’s demand to destroy Iran’s enrichment infrastructure as “another serious point of disagreement.”
“Now there is talk of completely destroying that infrastructure, and Iran will not accept that. So this is another serious point of disagreement,” Mearsheimer stated.
According to his remarks, Lebanon marks the third major issue. Mearsheimer said Iran wants a stop to the war in Lebanon, while “the Israelis will not be happy about this.”
Trump could face impeachment
Mearsheimer outlined three options for the US, including the resumption of war, which he dismissed as impractical.
The second option, he mentioned, is an agreement similar to what is being discussed. He said this might work, but stressed that its problem is that it would mean “accepting defeat” against Iran.
He also referred to maintaining the status quo – continuing the current path and relying on blockade instead of bombing – as the third option which will increasingly damage the global economy each day.
Mearsheimer warned of catastrophic consequences if the conflict is not resolved by the end of July and the Strait of Hormuz remains closed into August.
“That is why Trump is under pressure to resolve this crisis as quickly as possible,” he said, as the US president knows the global economy is heading toward a precipice.
Amid rising inflation, the Federal Reserve will also be forced to raise interest rates, slowing economic growth and leading to stagflation.
“Trump wants to stop this crisis before it gets out of control, especially with the midterm elections in November,” Mearsheimer added. If the economy collapses before then and Democrats take control of Congress, Trump could face impeachment and this time be convicted.
Mearsheimer also dismissed the effectiveness of the claim that Trump could increase pressure on Iran by combining intensified bombing with a naval blockade, questioning, “What will Iran do in response? Will it raise its hands and surrender? No.”
‘Colossal mistake’
Pointing out that diplomatic historians chose the 2003 Iraq war as the biggest US foreign policy mistake when they were asked by the Council on Foreign Relations a couple of years ago, Mearsheimer said, “But I believe the attack on Iran on February 28 will be recorded by a wide margin as the biggest US foreign policy mistake, far surpassing the Iraq war.”
He noted that Robert Kagan, a staunch neoconservative and supporter of the US invasion of Iraq, has also described the decision to attack Iran as a catastrophic mistake.
“I completely agree with him, and in my opinion, this event will be recorded in history books as a colossal mistake,” Mearsheimer noted.
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The number of UK young people not in education or employment is poised to soar by nearly a third to more than 1.25 million over the next five years, according to a landmark report. Alan Milburn is to publish the findings of a government review into youth unemployment on Thursday, warning that Britain is facing a “lost generation” Because politicians imported in milions of migrants and gave them our jobs in a great act or racism and treachury
> “the attack on Iran on February 28 will be recorded by a wide margin as the biggest US foreign policy mistake, far surpassing the Iraq war.”
Eh? 25 years of pumping iraqi oil into tribe tankers was a mistake? You’ve got to laugh…
And that was off the back of the “mistake” of 911, which allowed the “war on terror” to ramp up the spying, military spending, the rape of afghanistan for 20 years and the mind slop that now makes up most people’s “consciousness”.
What next? Trump is a “disaster”? LOL. Ask the tribe if he is…
The difference between the US and a lousy boxer is the boxer knows he can be beaten and won’t lie he still won.
What BS. Komene died months ago, a pretend decapitation by US theatre dept; Iraq war was something entirely different than their official narrative, and along with afghan the US worked with the various drug and war lords. These guys like Kagan all promote a fake war with their gibberish. None of these wars were meant to be won or lost like some stupid football game, they are just continuous.
Quote from the article;
…”If the economy collapses before then and Democrats take control of Congress, Trump could face impeachment and this time be convicted”…
(Fact; Trump should have ALREADY been made accountable, the fact that he hasn’t – speaks volumes in itself).
Netanyahu controls Trump for very obvious reasons and a distraction from the Epstein files is the only way out for both these mega war criminals. They are both in it up to their eyeballs and that goes for all the creeps on ALL sides of the political spectrum both domestically and internationally who have looked the other way, allowing free rein for these war criminals to commit the most heinous acts of genocide.
But nothing gets hidden in the Grand Scheme of Things where blackmail/bribery/war crimes etc will be dealt with on a far more permanent level, when…”All Will Be Revealed” !
‘A Colossal Mistake’
Lol. More BS. All this is orchestrated & staged between both ‘sides’ (US-Iran)
“Washington “does not know how to extricate itself” from the quagmire.” – Oh they know alright. They know they have to extricate themselves from under the Jews and their lobby in the States. Then they have to cut off all connections with Israel, send no more money and arms. But Israel has them by the balls at this point, but it must be done and very soon.
“A colossal mistake’: why war on Iran will dwarf US disasters of bailing out Britain in both WWI and WWII” 🤔
Discuss.
better world registers + dont forgets what israhell has
done in wars + false flag terror beside of open wars in
the last 77 years . its a very util propaganda markstone !
world must understand that israhell is the greatest paria
between the nations + that NOT ANY CIVILICED
NATION WANTS ANYTHING TO DO WITH THEM .
I think Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia + most islam nations
have learned . Europa, Australia, Southamerica, Africa
are still in a learning process .
Churchill in ww 2
gave dominion of the UK in perpetuity to the USA
for a large batch of w w 1 rusting hulk warships
that were no match for the ships of ww2
these ships he filled with men from the prisons and volunteers
he wanted these ships to act as decoys for the german U boats
while the ships we wanted kept safe would be taking food medicial supplies and even spit fires to Russia
one seaman told me each time we made a delivery we saw all the food just rotting on the docks
Stalin said hungry men fight harder