Apr 09, 2026 Letters

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Can the author of The Art of the Deal learn from the author of The Art of Persuasion?

Dear Editor

Re: “Trump pledges to stop bombing Iran for two weeks,” KN, April 8, 2026, permit me to say this welcomed respite should give everyone time reflect on what has happened since February 28 and project for a better way out of both the war and the impact the Strait of Hormuz is having on the global economy.

Before the U.S-Israel versus Iran war entered its sixth week last Saturday, Iran’s early seizure of the Strait of Hormuz, as reported by the Egypt Independent on March 4, 2026, turned out to be a hugely strategic military move that appeared to have caught the United States so flat-footed that Reuters, on March 31, 2026, reported President Donald Trump as urging countries that depend on oil tankers using the strait to mount a military defense of the strait and ‘just take it’ (oil).

Not surprisingly, as happened after Trump’s call for Iranians to rise up and take back their government after the assassinations of Khamenei and some of his top political and military lieutenants on February 28, those countries Trump called on to militarily defend the strait did not respond accordingly. They probably felt it was not their war.

In fact, some oil producing countries in the region that usually get their oil out to buyers via the strait started agitating for America do something about keeping the strait open and stopping the symmetrical military attacks from Iran. One of those affected oil producing countries was Bahrain, which took over the rotating presidency of the 15-member U.N Security Council for the month of April. Bahrain presented a resolution to the Security Council to consider ‘all means necessary’ to protect commercial shipping in and around the Strait of Hormuz. China (the Dragon) and Russia (the Bear), in particular, made their objection known.

After a fourth attempt, with revised versions of the resolution, China and Russia again used their veto power and blocked it, “Security Council: Russia and China veto resolution on Strait of Hormuz,” news.un.org, April 7, 2026. What China and Russia effectively did was to stand up to the United States and resisted its call for nations to militarily defend the Strait of Hormuz, thus leaving the Strait of Hormuz status quo in place.

With Trump’s weekend profanity-injected Easter Sunday threat to unleash Hell on Iran being withdrawn two hours before the deadline on Tuesday, thanks to an agreement brokered by Pakistan for the next two weeks, one has a right to now ask if America (the Eagle) is in an involuntary free-drop mode as China and Russia are using their veto power at the UNSC in this critical hour, while a third, Pakistan, had to step up and try to fix a problem or clean up a mess not of other countries’ making.

If there’s anyone who can stand up today and say they knew that the February 28, attacks on Iran would have led to a grinding war six weeks on, that person should tell us when and how this madness will end because this was really supposed to be a one-and-done attack and not an ongoing bombing spree with no exit strategy. Matter of fact, a carefully planned war would have definitely taken the vital Strait of Hormuz into account on Day One to avoid Iran taking control.

With Iran ‘controlling’ the Strait of Hormuz, Russia supplying it with intelligence information, and China shipping military supplies to Tehran, this two-week respite could well be seized on by these ‘three amigos’ to recalibrate, reconfigure and resume coordinated action if or when necessary. But it should be clear to the world by now that while Iran is waging asymmetric or unconventional warfare – proxy militias, drones, missile systems and cyber-attacks – it may be safe to conclude that Russia and China are siding with Iran against America, which shockingly has no traditional allies, who have been feeling alienated the last 15 months.

Whether China and Russia will ever seize the moment and try to use the United Nations to build a coalition of nations to counter the United States’ remaining influence remains to be seen, but if that ever happens it could seriously shift the already titling global balance of power away from the United States. If America loses its global influence, the democratic system as we have come to know it, could be in trouble, and this is why I am left wondering if the White House could understand and appreciate America’s coveted superpower status was achieved through the support of allies and not exclusively on military might. Is it too late for the author of ‘The Art of the Deal’ to read and learn tips from Robert Burg’s ‘The Art of Persuasion’? Get back to basics, Mr. Trump!

Regards
Emile Mervin

 

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• assassinations, Russia and China, Security Council, Strait of Hormuz, Trump pledges

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