Trump Has No Clear Plan for Iran’s Future, Warns Financial Times

LONDON/WASHINGTON: British newspaper Financial Times has cautioned that while US President Donald Trump is pressing ahead with military strikes against Iran, his administration lacks any coherent post-war strategy for the country’s future.
In a sharply worded analysis, the paper argued that relying solely on air strikes in an attempt to achieve regime change in Iran is a dangerous and incomplete approach. The report noted that Trump’s current strategy differs markedly from the US-led interventions in Iraq in 2003 and Afghanistan in 2001, both of which — despite their failures — had at least some framework for post-conflict governance.
The Financial Times pointed out that while the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has been instructed to surrender, there is no practical roadmap in place to facilitate or enforce such an outcome. The paper also warned that a prolonged conflict risks destabilizing Gulf states, which remain deeply exposed to regional spillover.
Compounding the challenge, a mere 27 percent of Americans support military action against Iran, according to the report, reflecting significant domestic reservations about the campaign. Washington has ruled out deploying ground troops, yet its post-conflict planning remains, in the paper’s assessment, dangerously vague.
Meanwhile, President Trump claimed in a video address that Iran’s military command has been “completely destroyed” and that many within the Iranian military wish to surrender. He confirmed that IRGC installations, Iran’s air defense systems, nine naval vessels, and a naval headquarters building had been struck. Trump declared that military operations would continue until all designated objectives are achieved.