Well, what a turn of events, Operation Epic Fury is well underway, you can absolutely bet Iran is getting hit hard here. I can understand Israel going into Iran, they are an existential threat to the survival of Israel. This is where Israel sees weakness, Trump was happy to move on Venezuela and kidnap Nicolás Maduro where Russia barely whimpered. China showed annoyance, but really did nothing either.

Russia is preoccupied with Ukraine, they really have not too many resources to share, Assad was routed from Syria, Iraq has not been a problem for some time, Gaza is under control, and Lebanon, whilst still providing some issues, is not the threat they once were. Ok, that is the basic thinking of Benjamin Netanyahu, he sees weakness in Iran and the supporters of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei were unlikely to come to his aid. United States Special Envoy Steve Witkoff claimed Iran was a week away from creating a nuclear bomb, he is just one of President Trump’s New York real estate nepo mates promoted beyond his competence.

The US military has been firing tomahawk missiles into Iran from ships in the Gulf and from aircraft, they have expended a serious volume of munitions. So too has Israel, they have taken out air defence systems for air superiority in Iran so non-stealth aircraft can fly into the country. So Iran has been responding, firing missiles and drones into neighbouring Gulf states. The United States has lost a $500 million THAAD radar system, missiles are expensive and so too are interceptor missiles. At around $4 million per interceptor missile, the cost benefit analysis to shoot down a $40,000 Shahed drone just does not add up.

When Shahed drones are raining down on US bases in the Gulf, the Dubai and Qatar airports are shut down and getting hit. These Gulf countries cannot sustain having their airports and industries shut down and are understandably upset. We all know who the experts are in neutralising Shahed drones. All of a sudden, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is being asked to send teams and resources to defend the Gulf countries because of the actions of Donald Trump.

Zelenskyy has read the room well, he stated he will not deplete Ukrainian defences and within ten days of the Iran war starting, he has advisors and anti-drone systems to protect the Gulf nations. The UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia are all taking financial hits and do not want a prolonged war with Iran and want the White House to end military operations as soon as possible. Zelenskyy will have a fantastic bargaining leverage when this military action is over, he came to the aid of the United States and the Gulf nations when they needed him, one hopes this good faith will be recipropricated.