Can the US and Iran make peace? More fighting means it's less likely

The conflict in Iran that President Donald Trump said last week would be over quickly extended into a fourth day of attacks over the weekend, and widened again Monday, July 13, as he promised that the United States would take indefinite control of the key waterway that controls the flow of much of the world's oil.

The ongoing fighting is contributing to uncertainty all over the world, pushing up gas prices and risking increased inflation, and it is not yet clear whether the United States can reach some sort of peace deal that would end the fighting in Iran and further U.S. interests at the same time.

"The reality is that these are the two countries that have defined themselves as enemies for the last 40 years," said Trita Parsi, the executive vice president of the Quincy Institute. "On top of that, Trump has killed their supreme leader."

Parsi said ending the conflict requires the fighting to give way to diplomacy, and in order to get to the negotiating table, the United States needs to be patient enough to tolerate that there may be periods where things don't go their way.

"Trump however, seems to want constant positive feedback to stick to that route, and if he doesn't get it after awhile, he just makes a 180," Parsi said. "And then when the war doesn't go well, which it likely won't, then he'll make another 180."

After striking Iran the night of July 7, Trump told a reporter on July 8: "I don't think it's going to start again. I think it's going to go very quickly. They hit a couple of ships, and so we hit that much harder. When they hit, we hit ten times harder." U.S. Central Command has since reported strikes on July 11 and 12.

While Trump said the strikes in late February began in order to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, the conflict is now centered on whether Iran should be able to control the Strait of Hormuz, which connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and is vital for getting Middle Eastern oil out to the rest of the world.

"The Strait of Hormuz is a vital maritime corridor for global trade," Central Command wrote July 12. "Iran does not control it. U.S. forces are postured and prepared to ensure that freedom of navigation remains available to commercial shipping despite Iran's continued unwarranted aggression, harassment, threats, and arbitrary declarations."

Trump said the morning of July 13 that the United States would blockade the Strait of Hormuz and charge a fee to passing ships for its trouble. This effectively renewed the practice the United States used from mid-April to late May and predated the June 19 ceasefire, which lasted less than three weeks.

Parsi said he would like to set the United States and Iran reach a temporary agreement to allow ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz to notify Iran and neighboring countries. That would buy time for the United States and Iran to reach a final deal, he said.

"This is not going to be easy," Parsi said. "It's not going to be quick. But it is the only path because I don't see anything that suggests to me this time around that military action will end up differently than it did just a couple of weeks ago."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Can the US and Iran make peace? More fighting means it's less likely

Reporting by Erin Mansfield, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Copyright Reuters or USA Today Network via Reuters Connect

This story was originally published July 13, 2026 at 1:08 PM.