At this moment, the world public can only hope for the imminent end of the conflict between Israel and the USA against Iran: one of the reasons for this anxious belief is the fact that some actors vow to achieve their ultimate goals by fighting to the “last drop of blood”. (https://iranpress.com/content/315830/iran-army-chief-vows-defend-honor-until-last-drop-blood).
Who would declare “the end”, and what the “megdan field” over the Persian Gulf (on the map) would look like after that, seems completely uncertain for now to many, not only the increasingly nervous energy traders, or the first neighbours on the already shaken Arabian Peninsula.
As things stand now, US President Donald Trump’s assessment on Monday that the war is “very complete” seems unclear if, for example, one takes into account the scope of US military operations the very next day in the area of the Strait of Hormuz (https://www.theguardian.com/news/2026/mar/11/us-iran-strait-of-hormuz-mine-boat-attacks).
As well as Israeli army’s actions today (Wednesday March 11th ) in western Iran (https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/article-889553). But also with simultaneous Iranian missile strikes on Dubai International Airport and targets across the Persian Gulf (https://www.ttnews.com/articles/iran-targets-oil-facilities).
Could a “little excursion” – as the US president described the attack on Iran at the beginning of the week (https://fortune.com/2026/03/10/trump-says-iran-war-end-soon/) , turn into a historic test of the endurance of the participants?
And if so, then what profiles of “endurance”?
At least two signals indicate at this moment that the conflict between Israel and the USA against Iran could last for a while.
On the one hand, there is the “disappointment” of US President Donald Trump with the election of Mojtaba Khamenei as supreme religious leader of Iran (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/3/9/trump-slams-mojtaba-khameneis-appointment-as-iran-projects-defiance).
By the way, Mojtaba Khamenei was elected as the supreme leader of Shiite Iran, after the assassination of his father, the supreme leader and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed on the first day of the Israeli-US attack on Iran on February 28. It seems that Mojtaba Khamenei was at that time, also wounded in the legs (https://www.indiatoday.in/world/story/new-supreme-leader-mojtaba-khamenei-injured-in-war-but-safe-says-iran-presidents-son-2880277-2026-03-11).
For the sake of understanding the war amphitheatre, Shi’ism is “one of two, or three main directions (currents), denominations in Islam” (Rade Božović, Vojislav Simić, Rečnik Islama, st.191, 2010). In that Islamic community, “Ayatollah” is: “‘God’s sign’, in Shia Islam, a high spiritual title that is awarded to one of the 12 chosen believers of Allah or mujdehid, authoritative experts of the faith… The title of Ayatollah has been awarded since the last century by authorities-jurists … who are connected to the famous Shia schools in Qom, Tabriz or Mashhad…” (ibid, p. 31).
A question could be asked here: how to understand last week’s statement of US President Donald Trump that he “must be involved in the selection process” of the next Iranian leader (after the assassination of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei)? (https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/trump-says-he-needs-be-involved-selecting-irans-next-leader-axios-reports-2026-03-05/).
Whether Donald Trump understands the enemy in the current conflict with Iran is the subject of a series of analyses these days (https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2026-03-10/iran-war-trump-doesn-t-know-his-enemy-that-gives-iran-an-edge; https://www.indrastra.com/2026/03/trump-sees-short-war-in-iran-tehran-is.html).
Trying to resolve that dilemma, the focus is mainly on insights into the profiles of military arsenals, strategies and tactics… Looking at those other differences between the actors of this war over the Persian Gulf, may just bring a part of the solutions to the puzzle about the possible length of the current war over the Persian Gulf.
If, in the meantime, a generally acceptable “diplomatic messiah”—a conciliator—does not appear.
That missing, could be a signal that the war “time bomb” over Persian Gulf , could continue to be ticking…
