The war in Iran has not been the unequivocal success that Donald Trump has claimed it to be.Tehran has damaged at least 20 regional U.S. military sites since the war began in late February, according to satellite imagery reviewed by the BBC. The damages have destroyed air defense systems, radars, and aerial refueling planes, costing the U.S. millions of dollars.The Pentagon, on the other hand, claimed in early April that it hit more than 13,000 targets in Iran within just 38 days of combat operations.Iran’s supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has tried to rally attention toward the attacks. Last week, Khamenei wrote in Farsi on his official X account that “America will no longer have a safe haven for mischief and the establishment of military bases in the region.” Khamenei further vowed that the phrases “Death to America” and “Death to Israel” would remain the rallying cry of the Islamic community and “the oppressed of the world, especially the youth.”The reality is obviously a far cry from the Trump administration’s public declarations, which have involved claims as far back as June 2025 that Iran’s nuclear ambitions were obliterated and its military sites damaged beyond any scope of immediate repair.A peace plan does not seem to be on the table, despite a preliminary agreement that was drafted early last week. Iran on Monday suspended talks with the United States over continued Israeli attacks on Lebanon, which they say violate the ceasefire.That’s not likely to please Trump, who spent the weekend ranting about congressional opposition to his war.“Iran really wants to make a deal, and it will be a good one for the U.S.A. and those that are with us,” the president wrote on Truth Social late Sunday. “But don’t the Dumocrats, and various seemingly unpatriotic Republicans, understand that it is MUCH tougher for me to properly do my job and negotiate, when political hacks keep negatively ‘chirping,’ at levels never seen before, over and over again, that I should move faster, or move slower, or go to war, or not go to war, or whatever.“Just sit back and relax,” Trump concluded. “It will all work out well in the end—It always does!”
