Is the US Driving the Iran Conflict for Profit? A Middle East Expert Weighs In

As tensions in West Asia continue to intensify, sharp criticism has emerged over the role of the United States in the ongoing conflict. Middle East expert Waiel Awwad has offered a stark perspective, alleging that geopolitical strategy, economic interests and power alignments are driving the war’s prolonged trajectory.

Is the War Being Prolonged for Power and Profit?

Awwad says the ongoing conflict is disproportionately benefiting powerful nations while worsening conditions for weaker economies. He argues that the war is being extended to serve elite interests and strategic alliances.

“You see, the problem is that the rich countries become richer in the wars and the poor countries become poorer. So you can see most of the countries all over the world, including the United States, people in the States are demonstrating against their government, against Trump, why he went for this war,” he said.

Awwad further alleged the motivations behind the prolonged conflict are closely tied to influential circles.

“So basically, Trump is trying to please the billionaire club that he surrounded himself with. You could see his assets, how they have been increased. You can see that he has been doing whatever the Prime Minister of Israel tells him to do. So he's not finding any way out to come out,” he said.

Is the Ground Reality Different from Official Claims?

Contradicting claims of US military dominance, Awwad pointed to reports suggesting setbacks on the ground, particularly involving a failed operation in Iran.

“Every day he's having a rhetoric tweet or a press conference giving us different messages, and then suddenly we find that they're sending more troops to the region, and they wanted to start some sort of a ground offensive. But as we get the news from Tehran, we have that Kharg trying to, had the commandos, the Marines have tried to get into Kharg Island, and they've all been captured. I mean, if that is the scene by the president of the United States, I think it's not going to stop very soon. And I am afraid that with the Easter holiday coming up, he may be up to some dirty bomb that he wanted to create havoc in South Asia," he said.

He also emphasized Iran’s long-term preparedness, shaped by decades of covert conflict.

“That's exactly because the Iranians are prepared for long years ever since the Islamic revolution came and the Americans took an anti-Islamic government in Iran, and they have been having covert operations along with the Israelis. For the last two decades, more than 19,500 scientists and civil servants and politicians have been assassinated in Iran by covert operations of the Mossad and the CIA,” he said.

"So Iran has been preparing itself for an extensional war with the American and Israeli, that's why we can see this systematic bombardment of the United States and Israel and like using the artificial intelligence now and they have been bombing almost 9,000 targets and now they say they have a bank of 15,000 targets,” Awwad added.

Are Gulf Nations Rethinking Their Alignment with the US?

Awwad suggested that the war has exposed shifting dynamics in the Gulf region, with countries increasingly questioning the role of American military presence.

“One can imagine that the war will prolong for so long on the other hand Iran is also retaliating very heavily against the American establishments in the region, American interests in the region, especially in the GCC and also inside Israel, where Iran threatened that they are going to retaliate by attacking universities inside Tel Aviv and American universities in the region because they have already attacked the universities in Iran, which is a clear indication that the war is coming beyond control. And what the American objective is to see that the Gulf countries join hands with the United States and Israel against Iran, which they are not doing so far, but the original war is very much imminent," he said.

He further argued that regional countries are now bearing the burden of defending US interests.

“I believe what you know most of the people think that the American bases in the region are meant to protect the GCC countries from any imminent attack, whether it was from Israel, where the Americans did nothing when Israel attacked Qatar and now from Iran, when Iran is attacking the American bases in these countries. But look at the scenario. It is now the Arab country defending the American bases in the country and not the Americans," he said.

Awwad added that Gulf nations are increasingly questioning the value of US military presence.

"So what the hell were the Americans doing with all these bases and military and personnel and all this equipment? They drained out the Arab countries with their money, and Trump is proudly saying he pulled out more than $5 trillion during his last visit to the region. So what the United States is doing is nothing but looting the money of the Gulf countries. And now they're realising that it is high time. The Americans should pull out their military bases from the country, and regional powers should come together to find some sort of a solution among themselves, like, you know, a security arrangement or a kind of a pact that no attack on each other," he said.

Earlier, US President Donald Trump maintained that Gulf nations are firmly aligned with Washington and actively responding to attacks.

“They are fighting back. Saudi Arabia is fighting back hard, Qatar is fighting back, the UAE is fighting back, Kuwait is fighting back, and Bahrain is fighting back. They're all fighting back. Actually, they were surprised to be hit. I was very surprised they got hit. And once they got hit, they started fighting very well. We're in very strong communications with all of those countries and they've all been fighting; they're 100% on our side,” he said.

(With inputs from ANI)