TEHRAN - President Donald Trump has once again backed down from his threat of military action against Iran, as US officials cited by The New York Times acknowledged that Iran’s “successful resistance” and “enormous resilience” have complicated Washington’s war aims and strengthened Tehran’s position on the battlefield.

The US president said on Monday that he was postponing a military strike on Iran planned for Tuesday. Trump said he made the decision at the request of Persian Gulf Arab states because “serious negotiations are now taking place.”

Before his announcement, he had warned over the weekend that, “For Iran, the Clock is Ticking, and they better get moving, FAST, or there won’t be anything left of them.”

Against the backdrop of the joint war that the US and Israel launched against Iran on February 28, Trump has repeatedly set deadlines for Tehran up to 6 times and then backed off.

Before a ceasefire between Tehran and Washington on April 8, which paused the war, he had warned that “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.” But he withdrew his threat of military action by accepting Iran’s condition for the truce.

US ‘strategic mistake’ 

In response to Trump’s latest threat, the commander of the Khatam al-Anbiya Headquarters, which coordinates military operations between the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Army, warned the US against “another strategic mistake or miscalculation.”

“They must know that any renewed aggression or invasion by the enemies of our land and our proud nation will be met with a swift, decisive, powerful, and extensive response,” Major General Ali Abdollahi said.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman also reacted to Trump’s threat in his weekly press briefing on Monday.

“If any reckless action is taken, we will respond with full force. I assure you that our armed forces will certainly unveil ‘new surprises’ for the enemy,” Esmaeil Baghaei said.

The US and Israel waged war on Iran to destroy the country’s military capabilities and change the political leadership in their favor.

But after 39 days of war, the Trump administration had to strike a ceasefire deal after its goals remained unachieved.

At least according to multiple US media reports, Iran’s retaliatory strikes dealt severe blows to American military bases and military equipment in the region.

A week ago, Democratic Congressman Ed Case said the United States has lost 39 aircraft since the start of the war with Iran. He made the remarks during a special Senate committee hearing while questioning Pentagon Chief Financial Officer Jay Hurst about the extent of damage suffered during the conflict. This includes an American F-35 fighter jet and an F-15E jet that Iran struck.

Iran’s resistance and resilience 

On Tuesday, a New York Times report, citing the US military, said Iran “has demonstrated enormous resilience and the ability to inflict significant damage to the region and on the global economy.”

Citing a US military official, the report said Iran has adjusted its tactics for any resumption of strikes.

The officials added, “Iranian commanders, possibly with Russian help, studied the flight patterns of American fighter jets and bombers” and warned that Iran’s downing of the F-15E jet and F-35 jets “revealed that American flight tactics had become too predictable in ways that allowed Iran to defend against them more capably.”

The officials further said the Iranians “instilled a belief that Iran can successfully resist the United States.”

“Many of Iran’s ballistic missiles were deployed from deep underground caves and other facilities carved out of granite mountains that are difficult for American attack aircraft to destroy,” the official said. “As a result, the United States largely bombed the portals of the sites, collapsing and burying them, but not destroying them. Iran has now dug out a significant number of those sites,” the NY Times report added.

Iran’s demands 

Iran says it is open to dialogue to bring a permanent end to the war, but will not give in to bullying and pressure.

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi presented a report on negotiations with the US to the Parliament. The report emphasized ending the war on all fronts, including Israeli strikes in Lebanon, lifting the US naval blockade, releasing Iran’s property and assets, compensation for the damages caused by the war, and ending all unilateral sanctions.

Since the start of the war, Iran has asserted full control over the Strait of Hormuz. It has not allowed vessels affiliated with the country’s adversaries to transit the strategic waterway. The move has sent shockwaves across the globe and has led to rising inflation and fuel prices in the United States.

Trump's ‘whoppers’  

The war remains deeply unpopular in the US. A poll found that 64 percent of voters said Trump’s decision to go to war with Iran was the wrong one, with a majority of voters registering discontent about the economic costs associated with the conflict.

This growing distrust echoes a familiar pattern from history.

The Hill wrote last week: “President Lyndon Johnson’s lies about the Vietnam War created what came to be called a ‘credibility gap’ when millions of people stopped believing him. Today, a credibility gap plagues President Trump because of his whoppers about the war with Iran and much more.”

For now, it has become more evident that Trump seeks a face-saving exit from the quagmire of war with Iran, but he tries to keep up the bravado. His repeated threats of renewed war and rhetoric are aimed at creating a fabricated sense of victory in the Iran war.