Dennis Ross, a former special assistant to President Barack Obama, is the counselor at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. President Donald Trump’s announcement of a two-week pause in hostilities to work out an agreement with Iran may presage an end to this war. However, within days the president had pivoted, threatening to rain destruction down all across Iran if the strait was not opened. Ironically, Trump had in practice already conceded the lifting of sanctions on Iranian oil, allowing them to export their oil to keep global oil prices from going too high. Before the war, the Iranian regime had no answers to any of its fundamental governance failings that produced the public uprisings in December and January.

Source: Washington Post April 09, 2026 15:34 UTC