President Donald Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth attend a dignified transfer for US service members killed during operations in the Middle East, at Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware, on July 22, 2026. (Photo by Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
Trump has “lost the Iran War in every way possible in less than six months,” said one critic.
The illegal war with Iran that President Donald Trump said would be over in a matter of weeks entered its sixth month on Friday, and there is little sign of it wrapping up in the near future.
A Friday report in The Washington Post marking the six-month anniversary of the illegal war noted that Trump’s ability to decisively win the conflict declined markedly “after Iranian leaders discovered that they could withstand intense bombardment and slowly degrade the world’s most powerful military with a cheap combination of mines and drones.”
The biggest weapon in Iran’s arsenal has been its ability to shut down the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping lane for petroleum. Since the strait’s closure, oil and gas prices have soared, costing US consumers an estimated $71.5 billion more to fill up their cars than they otherwise would have paid.
Trump this week has tried to claim that the strait has actually been reopened, but the Post found that the president’s proclamations do not match reality.
“More than 100 ships traversed the Strait of Hormuz on average every day before the war,” the Post wrote. “Just five went through on one day this week, according to Kpler, a commodities and shipping tracker.”
A Friday report in The Associated Press focused on the White House’s announcements this week of new measures to put economic pressure on Iran, which are a sign that the administration no longer thinks it can use military force to force Tehran’s hand.
“The turn to using sanctions as the cudgel of choice,” wrote the AP, “comes as the administration weighs diminished munitions stockpiles after months of war, sparking concerns that the prolonged conflict could undermine US military readiness in other parts of the globe.”
The AP also flagged a shift in rhetoric from Trump, who once promised the war would end quickly but now says he’s “not in a hurry” to end the campaign.
Harrison Mann, a former US Defense Intelligence Agency officer, wrote in an analysis published by Zeteo on Thursday that Trump has “lost the Iran War in every way possible in less than six months,” which he said would mark “the arrogant, violent end of American dominance in the Middle East.”
In fact, Mann argued that Trump lost the Iran War three different ways: The first in his failed attempt to force regime change in Tehran, the second in an aborted campaign to incite an Iranian Kurdish uprising, and finally in his desperate efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
All of these failures have combined to put Iran in a decisively stronger position than it was in before the war began, Mann wrote.
“After another four months of Trump threats, half-hearted bombing runs, and not one but two US blockades of Iran, Tehran’s military exercises formal authority over at least a third of the ships transiting the strait,” he wrote. “Plus, it now regularly shoots at ‘unauthorized’ ships with impunity.”
US Rep. Don Breyer (D-Va.) summed up the failure of Trump’s war in a Friday social media post.
“When Trump began his illegal, unpopular war with Iran, he said it would last a week,” Breyer wrote. “SIX MONTHS later: The administration has lied about our casualties and the deaths of civilians, the stated objectives haven’t been met, Iran has a new economic weapon in the Strait of Hormuz, the region is less stable, our prices are higher, our allies are angry, our adversaries are emboldened, and there’s no end in sight.”
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An Airbus A340 of Mahan Air on 14 September 2017 [GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images]
The US imposed sanctions on six individuals and entities Thursday in four nations for their roles in supporting the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its primary transport network, Mahan Air, Anadolu reports.
“The United States today sanctioned six entities and individuals in China, India, Russia, and Iran that enable the Iranian regime’s … IRGC,” said State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott.
The move targets the “Mahan Air Network,” which Pigott identified as the IRGC’s “airline of choice” for transporting weapons, military personnel and equipment worldwide.
The Treasury Department accused Mahan Air of facilitating military training and procuring drone systems by providing travel services for IRGC‑Qods Force.
Additionally, the US agencies sanctioned the DadeNegar Startup Studio, an IRGC-affiliated front company accused of supporting military targeting by soliciting the locations of American and Israeli assets in the Middle East.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent emphasized that providing financial or commercial services to the networks sustains a “terrorist enterprise.”
“The United States calls on the international community, particularly companies and individuals doing business with Mahan Air or any other sanctioned Iranian carrier, to recognize the serious risks raised by continuing such engagement,” said Pigott.
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Members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces attend a rally in support of former President Raul Castro in front of the U.S. Embassy in Havana, Cuba, May 22, 2026
ROGER D HARRIS and SARA FLOUNDERS challenge propaganda against the blockaded socialist island
MAY Day is the most important public celebration in Cuba. This year, which marked the 100th anniversary of Fidel Castro’s birth, carried special significance in light of heightened US aggression. Over 5 million Cubans reportedly mobilised island-wide under the slogan of la patria se defiende (the homeland must be defended). The largest demonstration took place in Havana in front of the US embassy.
The symbolism of International Workers’ Day was not lost on the White House. President Trump chose that day, May 1, to impose yet more sanctions on top of the already draconian illegal measures immiserating Cuba. Cuban journalist Norland Rosendo Gonzalez called this latest escalation Trump’s “imperial order to kill the Cuban people without bullets.”
The world’s leading imperial power falsely claims that Cuba poses “threats to United States national security.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio subsequently announced additional measures to “defend” the US homeland from its peaceful neighbour.
Jill Clark-Gollub with the Americas Without Sanctions Campaign explains the underlying reason for Washington’s animosity: “Cuba is sanctioned for the crime of being a good example.” A small, formerly colonised country, Cuba simply claims its sovereign right to determine its own destiny without foreign interference.
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In 1976, Cuban voters ratified a constitutional referendum with a reported 97 per cent approval rate and high voter turnout, which formally defined Cuba as a socialist state. Last year in the United States, the House of Representatives passed a resolution “denouncing the horrors of socialism” by a lopsided bipartisan margin of 285–98.
Capitalism itself, however, has never been subject to a democratic vote of the American people. Perhaps for good reason: recent polls show a growing popularity for socialism, especially among the youth.
Shortly before May Day, President Miguel Diaz-Canel addressed the Cuban nation: “The socialist character of our revolution is not a phrase from the past; it is the shield of the present and the guarantee of the future.” With characteristic Cuban humility, he acknowledged “our own mistakes in this process of social construction” but added that “the main cause of our problems is the genocidal blockade.”
Directly addressing Washington – “gentlemen of manipulation and lies” – Díaz-Canel proclaimed: “Cuba is not a failed state; Cuba is a besieged state.”
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STARK REALITIES: Crips Against Cuts Portsmouth protest, in April 2025, as benefits applications are bureaucratic and often unfairly denied / Pic: Tim Sheerman-Chase/CC
DYLAN MURPHY looks at how Labour is breaking its pledge to protect the disabled and vulnerable
… The latest quarterly statistics from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) paint a grim picture. As of November 2025, the sanction rate for Universal Credit (UC) claimants had risen to 5.9 per cent, an increase over the past year.
With 2.1 million claimants in conditionality regimes where sanctions can be applied, this means approximately 123,900 people were undergoing a sanction in November 2025 alone. In October 2025, 63,000 sanction decisions were made, peaking at 65,000 in January 2025.
This is not just a continuation of previous policy; it is an escalation. Before Labour took office on July 5 2024, the previous high for monthly sanctions was 57,276 in January 2024 under the Conservative government. Labour has now well exceeded this figure, reaching 65,000 in January 2025.
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What makes this even more troubling is the severity and duration of these sanctions. According to the latest DWP statistics, there were 26,000 completed sanctions lasting between four and 13 weeks, and 2,800 sanctions lasting over 26 weeks — effectively six months or more.
A six-month sanction means six months without income, six months of choosing between heating and eating, six months of mounting debt and desperation.
This is not modern welfare policy; it is a Victorian attitude towards the “undeserving poor,” dressed up in 21st-century bureaucratic language. It reflects a punitive ideology that views poverty as a moral failing rather than a structural problem.
The human cost is catastrophic. The loss of income from a sanction can trigger a spiral into crisis. People are left unable to pay for rent, food, and heating. For those already struggling with a disability or illness, the stress and anxiety of a sanction can have a devastating impact on their mental and physical health.
Keir Starmer says that the Labour Party under his leadership is intensely relaxed about assaulting those least able to defend themselves – the very poorest and most vulnerable.
Protesters chant outside New York Supreme Court ahead of former President Donald Trump’s civil business fraud trial, Oct. 2, 2023 in New York. Many argue he needs to be tried again – this time for war crimes. | Brittainy Newman / AP
What a start to the New Year! The shocking invasion of Venezuela by the U.S. and the brutal kidnapping of the head of state and his wife, the [killing] by ICE of a 37-year-old mother of three on the streets of Minneapolis followed the very next day by a Border Patrol agent shooting of a couple in Portland, Ore., and then another ICE shooting in Minneapolis.
2026 started with the Venezuela outrage. The U.S. invasion of Venezuela and abduction of its president and his wife are the actions of a racist rogue state headed by a convicted criminal and should be sanctioned by the United Nations. The Trump regime brazenly and blatantly violated international law and killed dozens in its attack.
The run-up to the incursion were the Trump-ordered boat strikes that have so far killed 115 people. The U.S. military has declined again and again to providence any evidence to justify its slaughter on the seas. The reason being that there is no evidence to condone the wanton murders.
For this reason alone, Trump and the U.S. military should have been charged with war crimes before the appropriate tribunal of the United Nations. But no case was ever brought, as it should have been, by the countries of which these poor souls were citizens. The Trump regime was let off the hook for these dozens of homicides by the international community. The killings were simply a pretext for more imperialist atrocities.
In the wake of these continuing murders, which began in September, the war criminal Trump planned further outrages, culminating so far in the bloody, illegal raid of Jan. 3. This was emblematic of a shameless imperialism that knows no boundaries when it comes to international law. That it was illegal is beyond any sensible doubt. Remember, also, that the issue of whether the killing of two survivors of a Sept. 2 boat strike was a war crime has been dropped from the news feeds.
There was never any evidence to substantiate the barbarous boat strikes, and even if there was some so-called evidence, it still would not justify the summary boat strike executions.
If the same standards were applied to the United States which it holds over other countries, it would suffer the condemnation of the international community followed by appropriate and severe sanctions. Trump and his cohorts would be charged formally as war criminals and have their assets frozen. This would extend to the U.S. military personnel who followed illegal orders.
These sanctions would be directed against not only Trump and his immediate partners in crime, such as Hegseth and Rubio and the military, but also against members of Congress who support his lawless, imperialist terrorist actions and corrupt politicians on both sides of the aisle.
The United States would be treated like the international outlaw that it is. Nations would terminate diplomatic relations with the U.S. and expel its ambassadors. U.S. games and tournaments would be boycotted, including the future World Cup and Summer Olympics. The countries of the world would be issuing travel advisories to their citizens discouraging visits to the U.S. in order to negatively impact its tourism industry.
If the U.N. gave some teeth to its pronouncements, the U.S. would certainly feel some pain for violating the U.N. Charter and international law.
Moving forward, the argument that the kidnapping of Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores was a justifiable “law enforcement” procedure is beyond being legally absurd. That simply is not how international law works. One country cannot simply indict a citizen, a national living in another country, and proceed to physically remove said citizen. International law mandates that such a removal must take place by utilization of an extradition treaty for that purpose, if one exists between different sovereign nations.
To invade and abduct is blatantly illegal by any stretch of the imagination, to say the least. This is against the policy of international peace embodied in the U.N. Charter.
But, alas we live in a world where imperialist outlaws like Trump hold sway. We live in a world where there is no effective opposition party in the U.S. to step forward. We live in a world where the power of mass protests, the raw power of the people, must come forward to confront the raw, naked power of brazen imperialism represented by the Trump regime.
This writer, who is also a former public defender, has taken the time to examine and review the indictment against Maduro, his wife Flores, and others of his government. The indictment says precious little about Maduro. It is a kangaroo court document of only 25 pages. It is legally inadequate to substantiate criminal charges against Maduro even if he had been residing in the United States. There are even some who opine that Maduro can beat the charges in a court proceeding. That is if the court is fair.
On the comical side of matters, Trump has just said that the “only thing” restraining his actions is his “own morality.” Trump—a convicted felon, a sexual predator, a purveyor of the foulest racism, a fraudster, a misogynist, and flagrant imperialist—has no morality. Or, should I say, no decent morality.
More comedy, this on the international level, is exhibited by right-wing Venezuelan political figure María Corina Machado, who just gave her Nobel Peace Prize medal to Trump. How much more absurd is the world of the right wing going to get? First, I did not know that a Nobel Peace Prize could be so passed on so routinely to another party. Second, the Nobel Peace Prize has been forever tarnished by it being awarded to Machado in the first place. Third, to even think of giving the Peace Prize to the most bellicose political figure in U.S. history is absurd. If anything, Trump should be awarded the Nobel War Prize, if such existed.
Equally absurd is the response evinced by Trump and his underlings to the murder of 37-year-old mother Renee Nicole Good. They call her a “domestic terrorist” to supposedly justify her killing. Incredibly, the next day after her homicide, Border Patrol agents shot a couple in Portland, alleging that the vehicle they drove was “weaponized.” This was also alleged in the murder of Good, which seems to be the standard pretext in these heinous shootings. Now, there’s been another ICE shooting in Minneapolis, an event sure to spark more protests.
But back to international affairs. Perhaps the global community, as represented by the United Nations, should level severe sanctions against the United States government to bring its politicians to their senses. Absent that the world is headed on an unalterable course of slaughter and carnage, with Trump on a steamroller course to full-blown fascism the likes of which have not been seen the days of Hitler. Also, as crazy and demented as Trump seems, he is but the representative of the political, economic, and military aims of the far-right section of the U.S. ruling class.
What is needed is not just the removal of Trump, which would mean only a leadership change, but a regime change—which means the removal of his whole administration. With the Democratic Party also controlled by billionaires at the national level and seen by many as a lite version of the Republicans these days, it’s easy to conclude the U.S. has no effective opposition party. But there are Democrats—the liberated, unbought, unbossed, and unafraid politicians who run on the Democratic ticket—who can be a force in the people’s movement for liberation from the Trump tyranny.
But it must be noted that sanctions are a two-way street. The Trump regime is not immune to the actions of the international community if the latter has the courage to step forward. The world is beset by an imperialist monster the likes of which has not been seen in decades. The world must rise to the occasion for the sake of humanity.
As with all op-eds published by People’s World, the views reflected here are those of the author.
Albert Bender is a Cherokee activist, historian, political columnist, and freelance reporter. He is currently writing a legal treatise on Native American sovereignty and working on a book on the war crimes committed by the U.S. against the Maya people in the Guatemalan civil war. He is a consulting attorney on Indigenous sovereignty, land restoration, and Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) issues.
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Members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces attend a rally in support of former President Raul Castro in front of the U.S. Embassy in Havana, Cuba, May 22, 2026
