DUBAI, MAR 28: With global energy prices up and his job approval ratings down, Donald Trump faces stark choices after a month of war against Iran: cut a potentially flawed deal and get out, or escalate militarily and risk a prolonged conflict that could consume his presidency.
Despite a flurry of diplomatic activity, Trump ends another week of the joint U.S.-Israeli campaign struggling to contain a widening Middle East crisis as a defiant Iran maintains a chokehold on Gulf oil and gas shipments and continues missile and drone strikes across the region.
The central question now, say analysts, is whether Trump is ready to wind down or ramp up what critics have called a war of choice, one that has ignited the worst global energy supply shock in history and spread far beyond the region.
Trump has told aides he wants to avoid a "forever war" and find a negotiated exit, urging them to stress the four-to-six-week duration of hostilities he has outlined publicly, a senior White House official said, adding that such a timeline appears "shaky."
At the same time, Trump has threatened a major military escalation if talks fail.
Trump's diplomatic overtures to Iran, including a 15-point peace proposal sent via a backchannel with Pakistan, appeared to demonstrate an increasingly urgent search for an off-ramp. But it remains unclear whether there are currently any realistic prospects for fruitful negotiations.
"President Trump has poor options all around to end the war," said Jonathan Panikoff, former U.S. deputy national intelligence officer for the Middle East. "Part of the challenge is the lack of clarity related to what a satisfactory outcome would be."
A White House official insisted that the Iran campaign "will conclude when the commander-in-chief determines that our objectives are met" and that Trump had laid out explicit goals.
Meanwhile, Yemen's Houthi rebels have attacked Israel with a barrage of ballistic missiles - their first such strikes since the United States-Israeli war on Iran began.
Brigadier-General Yahya Saree, a military spokesperson for the Houthis, announced the attack on Saturday on the rebels' Al Masirah satellite television.
Strikes "will continue until the declared objectives are achieved, as stated in the previous statement by the armed forces, and until the aggression against all fronts of the resistance ceases", Saree said.
The Israeli military said it intercepted one missile.
The attack came hours after Saree signalled in a vague statement on Friday that the rebels would join the war that has rattled the Middle East and shocked the global economy.
Saree said on Saturday the rebels fired a barrage of ballistic missiles targeting what he described as "sensitive Israeli military sites" in southern Israel.
Meanwhile, Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir has warned that the army is at risk of "collapse from within" due to growing pressure from the ongoing war on multiple fronts, including Iran and Hezbollah.
Speaking during a security cabinet meeting, Zamir said the military is facing a deepening internal crisis, particularly because of severe manpower shortages, reports the Middle East Monitor.
According to the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, the army chief warned that reserve forces "will not hold up" and criticised the government for failing to address structural issues such as the conscription of ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) Jews, amendments to the reserve law and the extension of mandatory military service.
"I am raising 10 red flags," Zamir was quoted as saying, highlighting the seriousness of the situation.
He also noted that the Israeli military is currently operating on multiple active fronts, including the Gaza Strip, Lebanon, Syria and the West Bank, while the need for troops continues to rise.
Zamir further warned that increasing violence in the West Bank has forced the army to deploy additional units there, adding more pressure on already overstretched personnel.
He said the government has yet to pass key legislation needed to ease the crisis, which is further increasing the burden on the existing forces. "AGENCIES
