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WASHINGTON — <\/span>Confronted by an intransigent Iranian government that has refused to back down<\/a> in the face of a massive military campaign, President Donald Trump appears to have settled on a dual-prong approach that combines economic pressure<\/a> with the potential of a devastating escalation in force<\/a>.<\/p>\n Having launched \u201cOperation Economic Outcast\u201d<\/a> just last week to try to isolate Iran from its remaining global trade partners<\/a>, the Trump administration also resumed strikes in recent days, prompting Iranian retaliation that has renewed concerns of an all-out regional war.<\/p>\n However, the combination of already intense sanctions on Iran<\/a> and an off-and-on bombing campaign since the war began more than six months ago<\/a> has not bowed the Iranian leadership and has left the administration struggling to find a way to wind down the conflict<\/a>. Tehran has dug in its heels \u2014 to Trump\u2019s frustration \u2014 as energy prices rise, the global economy roils and poll numbers on the administration’s handling<\/a> of the war dip ahead of November\u2019s midterm congressional elections.<\/p>\n Trump said Wednesday that he didn’t think the conflict would last \u201cmuch longer,\u201d but he again shrugged off suggestions that its unpopularity<\/a> and high gasoline prices resulting from Iran’s chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz<\/a> would affect the elections for Republicans.<\/p>\n \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter. And I\u2019m not affected by the election,\u201d he told reporters. “I\u2019m not running. But my party is running, and I\u2019m going to help my party. But I think my party respects the fact that we\u2019re not allowing Iran to have a nuclear weapon.\u201d<\/p>\n A regional diplomat briefed on the matter described the current impasse between Tehran and Washington as reflective of both countries’ domestic priorities: the midterm elections for Trump<\/a> and Republicans and the internal crises within Iran<\/a>.<\/p>\n Domestic issues are critical reasons why neither side is willing to blink first, said the diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive negotiations.<\/p>\n The diplomat said negotiations, including those between Iran and Oman<\/a> or even Iran and the U.S., will not go anywhere without addressing the initial catalyst of war: Israel. And the diplomat was skeptical of the Trump administration’s new sanctions plan, saying the threats require more explanation than what the U.S. has provided so far.<\/p>\n The administration’s new push for Iran’s economic isolation was announced with great fanfare last week and a dire warning for all remaining countries to cut off financial and trade ties with Iran or face U.S. retaliation \u2014 but the campaign so far has fallen flat. <\/p>\n Just one branch of an Egyptian bank<\/a> in the United Arab Emirates has been targeted so far. For actual sanctions to bite, experts agree that they must apply to Iran\u2019s main trading partners<\/a>: mainly China but also India and Russia. But Trump is loath to target China especially as he is preparing to host President Xi Jinping<\/a> later this month.<\/p>\n Trump also insists that the U.S. has control over the Strait of Hormuz, where one-fifth of the world\u2019s oil transited before the war began. The strategic waterway has been a key pressure point for Iran, and reopening it fully has become one of the prime goals<\/a> for the U.S. administration.<\/p>\n Ship traffic through the strait is well below pre-war levels due to the risk of attack if vessels don\u2019t comply with an Iranian vetting regime<\/a> near its coastline, which is in sharp contrast to the unhindered navigation before the war. There were 102 transits last week and 126 the week before, according to shipping data company Lloyd\u2019s List Intelligence, compared with 130 or more per day before the war.<\/p>\n \u201cAs President Trump said, the strait is open and all mines have been cleared,\u201d White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said Thursday. \u201cThe naval blockade remains in full force and effect, and Operation Economic Outcast is underway to sever every remaining economic lifeline sustaining the regime.\u201d<\/p>\n The White House has repeatedly touted the economic impact that the sanctions have had on Iran, citing its rampant inflation and the massive loss in the value of its currency<\/a>. U.S. officials have described Iran’s financial system as \u201cone big house of cards.\u201d<\/p>\n Going forward, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said \u201cthe price\u201d Iran will pay will be primarily economic, \u201cbut we reserve the right … to take military action when necessary \u2014 not just to protect ourselves but to prevent them from being able to threaten others as well.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re going to continue to feel the squeeze,\u201d he told Fox News host Brian Kilmeade in an interview that aired Wednesday.<\/p>\n Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent this week likened Iran to a snake that has been decapitated but whose body is still writhing.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are burying the head of the Iranian snake,\u201d he said Tuesday. \u201cThe snake doesn\u2019t know it\u2019s dead yet, but it will stop wiggling when the sun goes down. And so the Iranian regime \u2014 they are in demise, and they will figure it out.\u201d<\/p>\n Complicating things for the U.S., Iran\u2019s leadership has shown signs of divisions<\/a> between moderates more open to a diplomatic solution and hardliners who want to press ahead with a more confrontational approach.<\/p>\n President Masoud Pezeshkian is one of the most prominent voices still calling for a negotiated solution<\/a>. But the hardliners appear to have gained the upper hand, and Iran shows no sign of backing down. Tehran continues to lash out at U.S. interests and allies<\/a> around the region in response to military strikes.<\/p>\n \u201cThis kind of a hybrid approach \u2014 the combination of military force, blockade and economic pressure \u2014 that is the only option that seems to be available to the United States at this moment,\u201d said Hamidreza Azizi, consulting senior Iran analyst for the International Crisis Group.<\/p>\n Still, he said, \u201cit\u2019s been for a long time, but now maybe more than ever, a battle of endurance between the two sides.\u201d<\/p>\n Amr Hamzawy, director of the Middle East program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, pointed to two main reasons for the deteriorating situation.<\/p>\n \u201cOne, none of the two parties is satisfied with the outcome \u2014 meaning that the current situation does not serve U.S. interests well, and it does not serve Iranian interests well,\u201d Hamzawy said. <\/p>\n The other reason is how leaders from both sides are perceived at home.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Trump administration is afraid of being portrayed in the U.S. as an administration that failed to end a military campaign successfully, and that\u2019s going to impact the midterm elections,” he said. \u201cAnd the Iranians, especially the Revolutionary Guard, are quite afraid of appearing as if they are submitting to U.S. sanctions with no actions on their side, which might hurt them domestically.\u201d<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writers Will Weissert in Washington and David McHugh in Frankfurt, Germany, contributed to this report.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n