What Trump Missed Over 6 Months as Iran Suddenly Resurges

In the final week of July, a Ukrainian attack on an Iranian merchant ship resulted in fatalities. While Iran has declared its intent to take strong action, Ukraine stated that the strike was aimed at intercepting military supplies aboard the vessel heading to Russia. The Wall Street Journal analyzed that the two conflicts, the Russia-Ukraine war and the Iran war, are merging into one. This means that two prolonged wars, which are dismantling the fabric of global politics and economy, have begun to coalesce into a single mass. What will be the ultimate end of this fusion?

The United States and Iran are continuing their sluggish negotiations. Few believe that this war will escalate far more severely than before. However, no one can properly say when it will finally end. The Strait of Hormuz remains caught in massive uncertainty, neither fully open nor completely closed. Oil prices fluctuate wildly with soaring and plunging trends day after day. Reports continuously pour in that the world's strategic petroleum reserves are running critically low. How long can South Korea and the global economy hold out under these conditions? On July 29, Iran once again attacked U.S. military bases in the Middle East. The U.S. military responded with missile interceptions. This comes just five days after both sides halted attacks against each other. It is a relentless repetition of a war of attrition.

Time is on Iran's side, and the U.S. is at a disadvantage in every aspect. This is the assertion of Park Hyun-do, a professor at the Sogang Institute of Euro-Middle Eastern Studies and one of South Korea's top Middle East experts. While Iran holds two definitive cards, the U.S. is left with only two choices: either go all-in on Iran or effectively surrender, according to Professor Park. But still, this is the United States. Are President Trump's threats—that the U.S. could attack nuclear facilities, contaminate drinking water, strike power plants to paralyze Iran, or blow up oil fields to finish it once and for all—all impossible to realize? The U.S. cannot do any of those things. The reason is...

Talk persists that the U.S. severely misjudged Iran's capacity to sustain the war before jumping into it. President Trump developed false expectations after successfully capturing Maduro in Venezuela overnight early this year. In reality, just a year ago, few people thought Iran could hold out like this against the U.S. In June of last year, Iran suffered a crushing defeat in the Twelve-Day War triggered by Israeli airstrikes. The powerhouse of the Middle East showed a surprisingly helpless side. Was this the end of Iran? Analyses abounded that only a toothless tiger remained. However, Iran since the start of the conflict with the U.S. this year is a completely different country from last summer. In a mere half-year, it has made a complete comeback as that Iran. What happened in Iran over the past six months? Professor Park diagnoses it as a symbolic situation showing that the influence of XX is structurally taking deeper root.

The Iran war remains one of the biggest variables for the South Korean and global economies in 2026. Now, as interest in the Iran war fades amid an atmosphere of prolonged stalemate, is precisely the critical moment for an accurate understanding of this conflict. In Ttoksori Talk, Professor Park Hyun-do and we examined everything clearly point by point.

1. The Iran War and Russia-Ukraine War: Merging Into One?
2. Only Surrender Left as a Card for the U.S.
3. A Scenario to Neutralize Iran? There Isn't One
4. Iran's Transformation in Six Months: XX Behind the Scenes
5. Time Is on Iran's Side
6. The U.S. Severely Misjudged Iran

(Reported by Kwon Aelee | Video by Hwang Se-hui and Kim Sang-yun | Producer: Jung Seo-woo | Editor: Chae Ji-won | Designer: Chae Ji-woo | Intern: Kim Hye-won | Produced by Knowledge Contents IP Team)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.