President Donald Trump appears to be scrambling for a peace deal to end the war in Iran, but some of the president's "massive failures" are preventing that deal from materializing, according to one analyst.
Trump spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday about finding a way to deescalate tensions between Iran and Israel. The call happened after Iran fired multiple missiles into civilian areas of Israel for the first time since the war started in late February.
David Rhode, MS NOW's senior national security reporter, said on Sunday during a segment on MS NOW's "PoliticsNation" that the call shows Trump is eager for a peace deal. However, he noted that a couple of issues that have lingered since the beginning of the war seem to be prolonging the peace process. Those issues are the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global waterway for energy trade, and the continuous bombing campaigns conducted by Iran at U.S. allies in the Middle East.
"Apparently, the president and his top aides did not plan for the Strait of Hormuz to be closed," Rhode said. "Iranian missiles and drones have been able to strike ... all the countries people see on their maps there: Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE. The U.S. cannot stop Iranian drone and missile strikes against those American allies in the gulf."
"That's a massive failure by the Trump White House to not anticipate that and also not anticipate that Iran would close the Strait of Hormuz," he continued. "SoI think this administrationneeds a peace deal and needs itquickly. And the president has just not handled thiswar well."