Israel and the US have waged a stop-start war against the Islamic Republic Guard Corps (IRGC) since February 28, 2026.

What transpired started out mostly good, then some bad, and then something extremely ugly. Yet, it’s not too late to get the right action started.

The Good

The 2025 bunker-buster bombing on Iran’s nuclear capability was one of the greatest acts of all time by any US President in recent memory. It achieved in one night what three decades of negotiation could not.

Had IRGC developed a nuclear bomb, their first target would have been Jerusalem, the second Tel Aviv. That would be an extinction-level event for the peaceful, productive, and noble state of Israel. Israel would then justifiably use the Samson Option (apocalyptic retaliation). The 2025 bombing saved this extinction event from becoming plausible perhaps for another 10 years.

But the IRGC live to kill until they die.

Let’s walk back to the 39-day bombing campaign that began on February 28, 2026. The IRGC has been, for decades, a state sponsor of terrorism. Their love of Hezbollah and insistence on including them in any ‘deal’ practically admits that Hezbollah is one of their arms. The fact that the aerial campaign destroyed Iran’s navy, air force, much of their missile launching sites, and some of their drone factories is a mighty blessing to humanity – it sets their terrorism-export capability back by perhaps 10-20 years.

This is not merely the good, it’s a great outcome.

The Bad

The ultimate ideal would be to exterminate the whole of the IRGC. Two levels of leadership were thankfully eliminated. The goal of the IRGC is not life, prosperity, money, honour, education, business, or children’s welfare. As former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir once remarked, ‘Peace will come when the Arabs hate us less than they love their own children.’

But the IRGC and all its supporters live amongst some tens of millions of beautiful people – the Persians. The Persians found themselves shot like rabid dogs for merely protesting peacefully on the streets – tens of thousands of them were murdered callously.

After the brilliant day one strike eliminating the Ayatollah and the then entire IRGC leadership, it looked plausible that the war may end in a few weeks with a regime change. However, Trump tragically advised the Persians before the bombing though, that ‘help is on the way’. Then came the realisation that there is no way to overthrow the IRGC without a ground war. The Strait of Hormuz was in a double blockade. Continuation of the blockade could have resulted in starvation of the innocent Persians. There was also the matter of rising oil prices affecting the economy and the stock market, and their effect on the October midterms and thereby keeping control of the House and the Senate.

Granted, all valid issues, but Trump blinked first.

The bad outcome is that an emboldened IRGC continues its reign.

The Ugly

But the fact that the US executed an absurdist MOU is by far the ugliest salvo of this entire operation. You can read the full text of the MOU here.

Point 1 of the MOU adds that Lebanon’s territorial integrity is to be respected by the US and their allies. Neither in point 1, or anywhere else, is the respect for Israel’s territorial integrity mentioned. So, when Hezbollah launches rockets and murders IDF soldiers, and Israel retaliates, it’s the US that gets the blame. That’s already happened since the signing. Point 2 says that the US and its allies will not interfere in Iran’s internal affairs. This means that if the CIA advised the president (as they did Barack Obama in 2009) that the time is ripe for a revolution and an overthrow of the IRGC, the world has to sit tight rather than embolden the rebels with arms and intelligence.

Point 8 is the only one which requires Iran to do anything substantive (besides point 5 opening the Strait of Hormuz and not charging tolls only for the first 60 days), which is ‘to resolve the disposition of stockpiled enriched material, pursuant to a mechanism that will be mutually agreed upon’, and to ‘not procure or develop nuclear weapons’. The IRGC has broken that promise before. Point 9 also allows Iran to keep uranium enriched to a 60 per cent level, when that level is never used practically for any reason other than to further enrich it to over 90 per cent, suitable for a nuclear bomb.

The sequence is even more disturbing – points 1, 4, 5, 10, and 11 are first – termination of all military operations, not even retaliation on Lebanese territory, release of the US naval blockade, lifting sanctions against Iranian oil, unfreezing frozen assets. Elsewhere (point 6), the US even undertakes to raise at least $300 billion from regional partners for Iran’s reconstruction.

Then all this is to become a binding UN resolution – which can only be vetoed by the UK, France, Russia, China, or the US. The MOU never mentions the export of terrorism or Israel, Hamas, or Hezbollah even by name. Not once. As if that was never a crime. Israel joined the aerial campaign, rescued the US airman, but was never consulted on the MOU.

Mr. President, Take a Leaf Out of Desert Storm

Critics will say the Iran War has not ended. That’s correct, it hasn’t. But a temporary cessation and withdrawal did not need an absurdist document. That’s generated by a deal-signing obsession generally identified with investment bankers, not presidents. That Trumpian obsession needs to go.

Back in 1990, George H.W. Bush (Bush Snr) was able to form an international alliance to oust Saddam Hussein from Kuwait. That war (Operation Desert Storm) started in January 1991 and ended in six weeks. On day one, the aerial bombardment and radar nullification gave the Allies the skies – does that sound familiar?

Now the unfamiliar – the rescue force combined troops from 34 nations, including Nato countries, Australia, Singapore, New Zealand, and nearby Arab and Muslim nations including the UAE, Bahrain, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Saudi Arabia alone provided 60,000 to 100,000 troops; they were most at risk from a belligerent Saddam. Even Russia offered a blessing and a negotiating intermediation to the allies. Japan offered money. Including financial support, this was a 42-nation coalition. Obviously, Saddam had no chance. But several countries lost soldiers.

At the end, the road to Baghdad was clear. Yet Bush Snr held to the Powell limited-conflict doctrine. Wish he hadn’t, the Kurds had even offered to charge to Baghdad if the US provided only an aerial cover. Perhaps Bush Snr could then have prevented the ghastly war that 12 years later his son would propel the US into. That lasted 8 years and cost over a million lives. That jogs memories? A stitch in time, they say…

What were the conditions that led to so massive a coalition? As bad as Saddam’s invasion was, its impact was tiny compared to the 47 years of terrorism export and nuclear-extinction threats that the IRGC has posed. When Iran blockades the Strait, the whole world hurts. Much more than the US, because many countries are not self-sufficient in energy. And the Arab neighbours that suffered from the IRGC missiles are lacerated by the expensive re-routing of oil tankers via the Red Sea and the loss of revenue from the ones stuck in the Strait.

The US could have continued the stalemate while the able Marco Rubio, much like the then Secretary of State James Baker in 1990, cobbled a long coalition of the willing – why should only the US risk its cavalry for the world’s benefit?

The more the world hurts, the more a Rubio coalition would be like a Baker one. Don’t fear a global depression, Mr President, turn it into a ‘Trump card’ [pun intended]; you with me, sir?

Fortunately, an MOU is merely a ‘heads of agreement’ – not yet a contract. Well before this nonsense becomes a UN resolution, bright persuasive minds must get to the president and offer better advice. Otherwise, this war’s ugly ending overcomes most of the Good, and makes permanent the bad.

A New Declaration

You can break this MOU promise, Mr President, it’s no big deal because the IRGC have a history of lying. Start afresh with a new ‘6-point declaration’ that you can issue unilaterally:

Point 1: The IRGC exports terrorism through its various arms including Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis and the Muslim Brotherhood chapters. It deserves no credence until all terrorism exports halt forthwith. The IRGC must not procure or develop nuclear weapons, agree to hand over all enriched material and destroy nuclear capability including all centrifuges – to be certified by UN inspections.

Point 2: The Strait of Hormuz is a part of international waters. The IRGC has no right to blockade any merchant ships and must summarily relinquish any such notion, including even to charge any toll on any merchant ship.

Point 3: The IRGC relentlessly and cold-bloodedly murders its own civilians. It cannot be recognised as a valid government. It’s a rogue dictatorial regime.

Point 4: The United States seeks other nations’ assistance in various forms – financial, troops, munitions, intelligence, and cooperation, to end this dastardly regime. Plans are underway.

Point 5: We are now temporarily ceasing hostilities provided Iran and its funded arms such as Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis and its Muslim Brotherhood chapters do the same. The US and its allies maintain their right of severe retaliation.

Point 6: The future of Persia can be very bright. We are looking at reconstruction funds, the removal of sanctions, the return of prosperity through oil, and a proper government which is not a tyrannical theocracy. Which future you choose is now up to you. The world is watching.

In other words, behave like you already won the war, Mr President, because in fact you did. You still with me, Mr President?