President Donald Trump goes to the UN General Assembly with the war against Iran in its seventh month (Express Tribune).
What he arrives with
| | | |—|—| | War began | 28 February | | Cost to 1 August (CBO) | $38bn, rising ~$3bn a month | | US equipment losses (IG estimate) | about $3.7bn, including nearly 60 aircraft | | Strait of Hormuz | restricted; shipping under attack | | Bab el-Mandeb | Houthi positions strengthened | | Brent | $104, off a $107.82 high on Monday |
The week’s diary
He is reported to be meeting Gulf leaders on 24 September to discuss postwar strategy, with a fuller plan expected only after the November midterms. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif addresses the Assembly on 25 September.
What the scepticism is about
Not, mostly, whether Iran should have been confronted. It is about an operation entering its seventh month with no stated terminus, a chokepoint still closed, a coalition partner’s holiest city overflown by a drone, and a “day-after” plan timed to an American election.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said this week that “it is absolutely essential that that dialogue is established”, and named Pakistan and Türkiye as the two important mediators.
Where Pakistan sits in this
Awkwardly and usefully. It has a defence pact with Saudi Arabia, a border with Iran, a mediating channel both Washington and Tehran acknowledge, and a fuel price that has risen 13 percent in twelve days because of the fighting.
What is not established
No US position on terms for ending the war has been published. It has not been reported whether any contact with Iran is planned in New York, and the reporting does not name which leaders have voiced scepticism.
[Image: The Express Tribune]
