Expert: Iran War Spirals Out of Control, Trump Overwhelmed

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, TEHERAN— It appears that Iran’s reaction to the US-Israel war has exceeded the expectations of President Donald Trump’s administration, which, according to Douglas Bendao, a senior researcher at the Cato Defense Institute, is now beginning to feel overwhelmed by the increasingly uncontrollable situation.

Both Trump and his administration officials did not anticipate that Iran would hold out against the initial attacks, and they built their positions based on the belief that they would achieve all objectives in a short time, Bendao said in an interview with Al Jazeera, quoted on Thursday (19/3/2026).

Now, with discussions about attacks on the Bushehr nuclear power plant in Iran, the war seems to have spiralled out of control, according to Bendao, who bases this hypothesis on the United States’ requests for assistance from other parties.

It is true that Trump and his administration officials claim that the war is proceeding according to plan and has not exceeded the set timeline, but Bendao says many people do not believe what Washington says about the progress of the war.

What is clear—according to the American expert—is that Washington is not particularly focused on attacks against Iran’s nuclear facilities during this war, but rather on efforts to overthrow the regime; however, they were surprised even by Iran’s attacks on neighbouring countries that they did not expect, according to the expert.

Therefore, America’s statements about this war cannot be taken seriously because they did not account for many things that have happened and are happening now, including the significant impact of the war on the global economy, according to Bendao’s view.

Attack on Bushehr

On Tuesday last week, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) stated that Iran had informed them that a projectile had struck the site of the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, adding that there were no reports of damage to the plant or casualties among employees.