United States President Donald Trump has decided, at least at this stage, to avoid further significant escalation in the military campaign against Iran, after senior administration and military officials presented him with a series of risks associated with expanding the fighting.
According to a report in the New York Times, the focus of concerns is the stockpile of American air defense equipment in the Middle East.
According to the report, Washington fears that another broad campaign against Tehran will lead to a dangerous erosion of the stockpile of Patriot missiles and other defense systems that the Pentagon maintains in the region.
The chairman of the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Kaine, warned in closed-door talks that the US military has the ability to resume large-scale combat against Iran, but such a move could lead to a dangerous depletion of the stock of interceptors available to the US Central Command - CENTCOM, which is responsible for American operations in the Middle East.
But the fear of a shortage of interceptors is not the only consideration: Trump and his advisors are also concerned about a scenario in which further escalation would ignite a much broader regional campaign.
Among the risks discussed is the possibility of harming US allies in the Gulf, which are vulnerable to an Iranian response, along with global economic consequences, a further spike in energy prices, and a worsening of the refugee crisis.
