By Obinna Uballa
The United States and Israel are preparing for what could become a prolonged conflict with Iran, as uncertainty grows over Washington’s war objectives and Tehran’s Revolutionary Guards vow the country can sustain an intense fight for at least six months.
The conflict, now entering its second week, has already spread across the Middle East, raising fears of a wider regional war and threatening global energy supplies.
Questions about the endgame of the war intensified this week after Donald Trump held talks at the White House with Friedrich Merz, who reportedly pressed the US president for clarity on how the conflict might end.
According to people familiar with the discussions, Trump did not provide a clear answer, reflecting broader uncertainty among US officials, lawmakers and allies about the ultimate objective of the military campaign.
While the United States Department of Defense has described the operation as narrowly focused on destroying Iran’s ballistic missile launch capabilities, Trump has repeatedly hinted at more expansive goals.
On Friday, the president suggested the war would end only when Iran’s current leadership effectively submits to what he described as “unconditional surrender”.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt later said the determination of when Iran had reached that point would ultimately rest with Trump as commander-in-chief.
Despite the rhetoric, several US allies say they have not received a clear explanation of Washington’s strategy or its long-term plan for Iran.
Some lawmakers have also expressed concern that the administration has not clearly defined what victory would look like or how the United States would manage the aftermath if the Iranian government collapses.
Senator Jeanne Shaheen, a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said conflicting signals from the administration have raised serious questions about the trajectory of the conflict.
“We’ve heard mixed messages about what the strategy is here, what the endgame is here, and how we’re going to get out of Iran,” she said.
Military officials, according to a report by CNN, say the war is now entering a new phase. According to Dan Caine, US forces are preparing to strike deeper inside Iranian territory to weaken the country’s military capabilities.
He said Iranian missile launches have dropped sharply since the opening strikes, claiming ballistic missile launches have fallen by 86 per cent while drone attacks have declined by 73 per cent.
However, some analysts believe those reductions may largely reflect the destruction of Iranian command centres in the early hours of the campaign.
Meanwhile, sources say Washington has quietly explored the possibility of working with Kurdish opposition groups inside Iran.
Sources say the Central Intelligence Agency has held discussions with several Iranian Kurdish factions about supporting a potential ground offensive aimed at triggering a broader uprising against the government.
Among the groups involved in the discussions is the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK), which has indicated support for the US-Israeli campaign but insists political change in Iran cannot be achieved through air strikes alone.
PJAK co-chair Amir Karimi said the group has urged Washington to back democratic forces on the ground rather than impose an external political solution.
At the same time, Trump has reportedly held calls with leaders of Kurdish groups in Iraq and Iran, encouraging them to support efforts to challenge the current Iranian leadership.
While the US administration has dismissed Iranian overtures to open negotiations, officials say several countries have approached Washington in recent days offering to help mediate the conflict.
For now, however, US officials say the war is expected to continue until military objectives are achieved.
Iran, for its part, has signalled that it is prepared for a long confrontation. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said Sunday that Iran’s forces could sustain the current level of fighting for up to six months.
Spokesman Ali Mohammad Naini said Iran had so far relied primarily on older missile systems but could deploy more advanced long-range weapons in the coming days.
The war has already triggered escalating attacks across the region. Saudi Arabia said it intercepted more than a dozen Iranian drones heading toward targets in Riyadh, while Qatar reported that ballistic and cruise missiles were fired toward its territory.
Air defence systems in the United Arab Emirates also intercepted incoming drones and missiles, while explosions were reported in Baghdad and Erbil. In Kuwait, authorities said an attack struck fuel storage facilities at the country’s international airport, prompting concerns over aviation fuel supplies and regional energy security.
Iran has also accused the United States and Israel of targeting oil facilities in Tehran, while global oil markets have reacted nervously to threats against shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a route through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil passes.
The conflict began after joint US-Israeli strikes reportedly killed Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei, prompting retaliatory missile attacks across the region.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to continue military operations until Iran’s leadership is dismantled.
Inside Iran, officials say the war has taken a heavy toll, according to AFP report. The country’s health ministry reported that at least 926 civilians have been killed and around 6,000 wounded since the conflict began, although those figures could not be independently verified.
Analysts warn that without a clear diplomatic pathway, the conflict risks dragging on for weeks or even months, with unpredictable consequences for the Middle East and the global economy.
