Iran and US set for extended war with neither side ceding ground

Patrick Sykes, Bloomberg News on Sep 10, 2026

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Iran and the U.S. are digging in for a protracted war, with little sign of a near-term ceasefire or return to normal Middle East energy flows even if hostilities remain at a low intensity.

Tehran’s leaders are resolved to keep fighting despite mounting economic costs as they see the conflict as an existential threat, Bloomberg reported Wednesday, citing a senior Iranian official. The country has been able to rebuild its missile capabilities and will escalate strikes on U.S. and Gulf assets if Washington intensifies its own attacks, the official said.

Top White House advisers including Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have told President Donald Trump that the war could drag on through the remainder of his term, which runs until January 2029, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing U.S. officials.

The preparations for an extended confrontation contradict Trump’s latest comments that the war will end “immediately” after the Nov. 3 midterm elections, which have been overshadowed by his inability to end the conflict. Iran’s stance is also undermining the U.S.’s efforts to force Tehran back to the negotiating table by applying economic pressure.

Iran “can’t hold out any longer” and is “desperate to try and affect the election,” Trump told reporters.

Brent crude oil has risen more than 5% this week and traded above $102 a barrel on Thursday after an uptick in attacks around the Strait of Hormuz, the critical waterway that’s become the focal point of the conflict. About a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas passed through the strait before the war, but volumes have plunged as a result of the hostilities.

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps spokesman Hossein Mohebbi said the force would hit 20 targets for every two struck by the U.S., the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Wednesday.

One U.S. warship had to evade an Iranian assault this week, drawing retaliatory American strikes on Iranian oil tankers. Tehran responded with attacks on a U.S. base in Jordan and several commercial vessels.

The Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen are waging their own campaign, mostly targeting Saudi Arabian assets. They most recently defeated Yemeni government forces in Mokha, on the Red Sea, better positioning the group to attack ships in another crucial waterway, the New York Times reported.

The Iran-backed Houthi militia captured a strategic Red Sea port city on Thursday, according to two Yemeni officials.

Iran is signaling that the U.S. blockade on its Persian Gulf ports and increased sanctions pressure won’t constrain its ability to continue the fight, even inflation rises and the national currency slumps.

The country’s defense industry “continues on its path more steadfast, alive, intelligent, and advanced than ever before,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

“Soon, you will see the tip of this iceberg,” it added.