TEHRAN -- Palestinian analyst Abdul Bari Atwan says Iran inflicted a major defeat on the United States and that further scandals involving President Donald Trump will be exposed, in an editorial published on Saturday.

Atwan, editor-in-chief of the London-based Rai al-Youm, focused the editorial on the outcome of the U.S. midterm elections and the ensuing fallout, writing that Vice President JD Vance’s admission that Israel fed Trump false intelligence and drew him into war with Iran marks “a new and strategic shift in American policy.”

“When JD Vance, Vice President of Donald Trump, acknowledges that Israel gave Trump false information and dragged him into war with Iran, and also calls for changing relations with Israel — or in other words, ending the regime’s control over American decisions, especially regarding the West Asia region — this indicates a new and strategic shift in American policy,” Atwan wrote.

He said Vance “completely distanced himself from the war with Iran and its management, and from Israel’s control over the decision-making process in America,” adding that Republican neglect of Americans’ interests — high living costs, fuel prices and inflation — cost the party its majorities in the House and Senate.

Atwan suggested Vance may be launching his own presidential campaign, whether in the event of Trump’s impeachment and trial “for leading America into a failed war with Iran — a war primarily instigated by Israel” — or over corruption and using his position to profit on global markets, where his net worth rose by more than $6 billion in two years.

“The Republican Party, led by Trump, is collapsing and faces widespread public anger for betraying trust and involving America in a war in which it had no stake, a war that led to the loss of its credibility and global leadership,” he wrote.

Atwan said Iran’s leadership, backed by high popular support and its legislative and military institutions, emerged victorious through “steadfastness, smart management of the conflict, and resistance to American pressure, threats and sanctions, as well as resistance 

to the terrorist crimes of the Zionist regime.”
He said the likelihood Trump would resume aggression against Iran appeared limited, as he lacks authority or a green light from Congress, and the U.S. military establishment did not appear ready to carry out his requests to deploy bombers and aircraft carriers to bomb Iran, “because all Americans oppose this action.”
Atwan cited Israeli chief of staff Eyal Zamir’s rejection of Netanyahu’s request to send warplanes to resume war on Iran, and reports that CENTCOM commander Brad Cooper and most of his generals oppose such a war, with many resigning or being dismissed over the opposition.
“Days ahead will be full of surprises, especially after the release of new documents on Trump’s scandals during his trips to Epstein Island, as well as details and documents of Israel’s role in dragging America into war against Iran to serve Zionist goals, the creation of Greater Israel and the plunder of Islamic and Arab wealth,” Atwan wrote.