Iran has closed the Strait of Hormuz and launched drone and missile attacks across the Gulf, targeting U.S. bases, oil facilities and neighboring countries as part of its strategy to assert leverage in its war against the U.S. and Israel. Iranian leadership has vowed the conflict will continue on its own terms, even as the pace of its strikes has reportedly slowed and oil prices have surged.

“Having been attacked twice in less than a year by the United States and Israel, including the assassinations of a significant number of political, military and religious leaders, Iran is determined to reestablish deterrence,” Osamah Khalil, professor of history, tells the National News Desk. “As the United States and Israel are also committed to regime change and have boasted about this goal, this has become an existential fight for the Iranian government.”

In an interview with Spectrum News about President Trump's legacy, Khalil says, “Wars tend to define American presidents, and they can often swallow them. I think depending on how long this goes and we’ve already seen the implications that it’s played out not in a way the president claimed it would or expected. All bluster aside; President Trump did very little to set the groundwork for this.”