Jam-e-Jam evaluated the US strategy toward Iran, quoting senior US‑affairs analyst Fouad Izadi. The main US objective in its current actions is to normalize attacks on Iran, similar to what is now seen in Lebanon, where Israel strikes whenever it wishes, and such attacks have become routine.

The United States wants to apply the same model to Iran. Their preferred scenario is to reach certain agreements with Iran while still maintaining dominance in the region. In such a situation, attacking Iran would no longer be considered costly or crisis‑inducing; instead, the US could strike Iran gradually, at different levels and intensities, until such aggression becomes normalized. The way to stop this is to ensure that the Strait of Hormuz does not reopen.

Shargh: The battle of narratives over Iran–US MoU

Shargh wrote about the ongoing battle of narratives surrounding a possible memorandum of understanding between Iran and the United States. According to the paper, a final text has supposedly been agreed upon, yet no one is saying exactly what it contains. On one side, Pakistan’s prime minister — acting as mediator — claims that “peace has never been this close” and speaks of a finalized agreement. On the other side, the accounts circulating in Tehran and Washington about the content of this agreement are so contradictory that they seem to describe two entirely different documents. Still, what can be gathered from statements and reports is that no precise, mutually agreed-upon final text has been released. What exists are fragments of a diplomatic puzzle that each side is trying to frame to its own advantage. Pakistan, however, insists that peace is near. Perhaps in just a few days, everything will become clear.

***********Siasat-e-Rooz: The Strait of Hormuz is not a stage for power displays from thousands of miles away
Siasat-e-Rooz dedicates its editorial to Trump’s baseless claims. It wrote that Trump, using terms such as reconstruction, Marshall Plan, defensive strikes, retaliatory action, proportionate response, and limited and calibrated attack, is trying to justify continued aggression against Iran under the illusion of reopening the Strait of Hormuz and forcing Iran into submission. But Iran’s decisive responses to aggressors send a clear message: the Strait of Hormuz is not a place for power shows or remote decision‑making from thousands of miles away, and miscalculation can be costly. Iran has shown that it will respond firmly to any threat and will not surrender or abandon its rights and principles. Western behavior only complicates the situation and increases global costs.

Hamshahri: Behind-the-scenes of two days of attacks and the sudden announcement of an agreement

Hamshahri analyzed Trump’s claims and the background of the attacks and their sudden halt. Trump stated that “we brought Iran to the negotiating table under the shadow of military threat.” This is the narrative he has tried to promote in recent days to portray Tehran as defeated and Washington as victorious in diplomacy. But Trump is attempting to turn his own retreats and strategic failures into a victory, even though the reality shows that the US president has returned to the same basic framework of understanding that is not meaningfully different from Iran’s recent proposed text. Despite the exposure of the ineffectiveness of weeks of threats, tensions, and clashes by Washington and Tel Aviv, developments on the ground and in diplomacy over recent days and weeks indicate something strategic: Iran did not retreat in the face of US threats or strikes — rather, it was the United States that ultimately announced a halt to attacks and a return to the negotiating table.

Kayhan: We closed the Strait with power

According to Kayhan, the unparalleled show of force by Iran’s armed forces has brought the terrorist US military to its knees, pushing it toward begging for a ceasefire and resorting to media deception. Trump is using the endless cycle of “agreement–war” to control oil prices and secretly reopen the world’s energy chokepoint. But the strategic lock on the Strait of Hormuz will never be opened with the key of American deceit or false diplomacy. This show of power has shattered the “hollow prestige” of the US military and trapped the enemy in deep economic crises and military paralysis. The White House — which once claimed through media propaganda that it had destroyed Iran’s defensive capabilities — now, after receiving heavy transregional blows, facing the closure of the Strait and a sharp drop in domestic popularity, has turned to psychological operations and pleading for a ceasefire. In this new balance of power, Kayhan writes, absolute control over the Strait of Hormuz and the firm red lines of the Islamic Republic are deterrent levers that will not be traded for the rotten rope of Western deceptive diplomacy.