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‘Misjudged Iran’s ability, no endgame’: US senator Chris Murphy on why Trump’s war strategy is 'failing'
Chris Murphy said, “It’s crystal clear now that Trump has lost control of this war. He badly misjudged Iran’s ability to retaliate. The region is on fire.”
US senator Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, sharply criticised President Donald Trump’s handling of the ongoing conflict with Iran, saying the President has “lost control of this war” as tensions enter a third week with no end in sight.
Murphy shared his assessment in a series of posts on X, drawing from “closed door briefings” he attended on what he identified as the four “biggest current crises” facing the US in the region. Track US Iran war live updates
‘Trump underestimated Iran’
Murphy said, “It’s crystal clear now that Trump has lost control of this war. He badly misjudged Iran’s ability to retaliate. The region is on fire.” He argued that the president had underestimated Iran’s ability to disrupt critical trade routes.
“Trump believed Iran would not close the Strait of Hormuz. He was wrong. And now oil prices are spiking. If the Strait stays closed, a global recession will result. It actually may already be too late. Gas prices are the first to spike, but food prices are next.”
Murphy explained that reopening the Strait would be extremely difficult.
“Right now, Trump has no plan to reopen the Strait. And a plan may not exist. The assets Iran uses to harass and attack tankers – thousands of small drones, speed boats and mines – cannot be eliminated. They are too numerous, too spread out and hidden.”
Even naval escorts for tankers would be a logistical nightmare, Murphy added.
Iran’s drone threat continues
The American lawmaker’s second crisis centers on Iran’s drone capabilities.
“We can destroy Iran’s missiles but not all their drones, and war today is drone war. Iran can hit oil sites in the region indefinitely because it possesses so many cheap, weaponised drones. And they are. They blew up a critical Oman oil depot two days ago.”
He added that Trump ignored lessons from recent conflicts like the Ukraine war: “If Trump paid any attention to the Ukraine War he would have noticed how warfare has changed. But he didn’t. And he blundered. Worse, the Gulf states are running out of interceptors to stop Iranian missiles and drones – meaning that soon more oil sites will be vulnerable.”
Regional war risks
The third crisis that Murphy highlighted is the broader regional escalation:
“A broader, regional war is breaking out as Iranian proxies in Lebanon hit Israel, and those in Iraq target the US. Israel is now threatening a massive ground invasion of Lebanon, which could become its own new crisis.”
He also mentioned other potential flashpoints: “Other potential flash points lurk. So far, the Houthis in Yemen have been relatively quiet. Probably not for long. They can project power into the Red Sea. For Syria, this is the worst time for Trump to strike Iran. Syria could explode again.”
‘No clear endgame’
The fourth and perhaps most alarming crisis, according to the Democrat, is the absence of a clear US strategy.
“Trump has no endgame. Iran and its proxies can create chaos indefinitely. So what’s next? A ground invasion? This would be Armageddon—thousands of dead Americans. Declare false victory? Then the new Iranian hardliners in charge just rebuild what we destroyed.”
He further added, “All of this was totally foreseeable. Frankly, it’s why previous presidents weren’t so stupid to start a war like this. Trump has lost control of the war. His best course now is to cut his losses and end it. That’s the only way to prevent an even bigger disaster.”
Earlier in the week too Chris Murphy had trained his guns at Trump’s strategy after a two-hour briefing on the Iran war, describing the administration’s plans as “incoherent and incomplete”.
He had also said that the Republican leader has shifting priorities, from regime change in Iran to dismantling its nuclear program.
