When Donald Trump greenlighted the joint US-Israel strikes on Iran on February 28, he perhaps thought the conflict would be dealt with and be over by the time his weekend round of golf ended. Little did the US President anticipate the repercussions, backlash and the ripples through the world economy even before the war officially entered its sixth week. As No Kings rallies swept every major US city and flooded the streets and the headlines alike with powerful images of millions of protesters revolting against Trump policies, his detractors wasted no time and took to social media. “I bet Trump wishes he had hit a beehive instead with his shining nine iron on the golf course.”
When the memes and headlines think alike
The countless digs by the general public on social media somewhat aligned with what even formidable names from the world of defence and politics have been opining. “When you stir a Hornet’s nest, it is up to the Hornets when it stops,” Ret. Lt. Col. Tony Aguilar recently stated on a television show in context of the US-Iran war. At the start of the strikes, Trump vowed that they would cripple Iran’s military and urged Iranians to rise up against the Islamic Republic.
As a part of its strategic retaliatory measures, Iran has struck U.S bases and infrastructure across the Gulf, selectively blocked the Strait of Hormuz, leading to havoc, airspace closures, fuel crisis, including civilian casualties, skyrocketing oil prices and resource shortages across the globe. “Nobody can stop the war in our region in the Gulf, but you,” Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi recently called on Trump to end the war on Iran, in a very restrained and earnest appeal.
Nations who have condemned the war
Several other nations have however been verbally assertive and calling out Trump instead of calling on him. On March 20, Switzerland suspended the approval of new weapons export licences to the US government, citing its neutral stance. “The export of war materials to the countries involved in the international armed conflict with Iran cannot be authorised,” the government said in a statement. Trump’s call for international help to reopen the Strait of Hormuz ran into neglect and almost resistance from many countries. Almost a day after the Switzerland’s blockade of arms exports, Germany withdrew support for Israel in the genocide case at the International Court of Justice.
Also read: Battle of narratives over US-Iran ‘ceasefire’
While the diplomatic blows to both US and Israel may not have been coordinated in terms of timing, they have been consequential in terms of impact. Around the same time, speaking on the sidelines of a summit in Colombia, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, said, “It’s not possible for someone to think that they own other countries,” in an apparent reference to the US policy under Trump. He added, “What are they doing with Cuba now? What did they do with Venezuela? Is that democratic?”
While many world leaders chose to condemn the war on account of violation of international order, Pope Leo called the death and suffering caused by the war in the Middle East “a scandal to the whole human family,” while urging immediate ceasefire. Both Russia and China, key external and diplomatic supporters of Tehran, labelled the US-Israel war a clear violation of international law, with Russian President Vladimir Putin using strong language to condemn it as a, “cynical violation of all norms of human morals.”
Not our circus, not our monkeys: NATO
While opposition from Russia and China was a foregone consequence, even NATO allies have sprung a surprise on the Oval Office. Spain refused the US access to any of its military bases, with Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez commanding significant applause for being among the first of the Western leaders to condemn the military strikes against Iran as a breach of international law. NATO’s other major allies – Germany, the UK and France — have kept their distance and ruled out getting involved in the war. Even Trump supporters, leaders of Italy, Hungary and Slovakia have questioned the logic and wisdom behind American aggression.
The embarrassing snub from NATO allies has not just infuriated the Oval office but left it scrambling for face-saving measures, prompting Secretary of State Marco Rubio to say that the “US may need to assess its relationship with NATO after the Iran war is finished.” He went on to call the military alliance’s alleged lack of support during the crisis, “very disappointing.” The only hope is history, as the international military organisation has survived a lot of turbulence in the past too.
NATO is not the only alliance that might pay the price of the war. “Go get your own oil,” wrote Trump on Truth Social on Tuesday, alluding to US allies and how they’ll be stuck with the consequences for not supporting the Oval Office in the war on Iran. Having hit already new levels of unpopularity, for Donald Trump the war has already cost him a lot and now it seems he’s determined to make everyone pay the price.
By Manpriya Singh
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