US not escalating war with Iran any further due to depleting arsenal of missiles

Washington, Jul 21 (UNI) Despite being launched into a war with Iran and trading strikes with it on a near daily basis, the US has not escalated its conflict with Tehran further due to a massive depletion in its missile stock, an anonymous US official told The Washington Post.
According to the official, the Trump administration is preparing for the possibility of a broader conflict in the near future but cautioned that any expansion would remain short of an all-out war.
According to the report, US operations are in the region have been heavily obstructed due to its dwindling inventory of long-range and air defence munitions, as well as limits on the military’s ability to deploy additional aircraft and personnel to West Asia post combat losses.
“We do not have enough to safely sustain operations, and I don’t think the White House is aware of that,” the official told the newspaper.
The reported assessment comes as Iranian attacks have inflicted mounting casualties and damage on US forces in recent weeks. Over the past fortnight, at least three American service members have been killed and nearly 100 injured, with Iranian strikes having also reportedly damaged aircraft, radar systems and other military infrastructure at US bases across the region.
As such, Washington’s objectives have narrowed considerably since the war started, with its initial goals of dismantling Iran’s nuclear programme and toppling the Islamic Republic’s leadership, along with its goals of degrading Iran’s military capabilities being sidelined to way to simply being focused on restoring freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.
However, reopening the strategic waterway is by no means an easy task as it requires substantially greater resources, including additional fighter aircraft, warships and tens of thousands of troops, according to the report.
Furthermore, Trump has also signalled his reluctance to commit to sending ground forces to another war in West Asia, with the reported shortages of precision munitions limiting Washington’s military options even more.
The result, as per the Post’s report, is a conflict in which both Washington and Tehran will continue carrying out retaliatory strikes while seeking to pressure each other into making concessions.
With US midterm elections approaching and petrol prices once again nearing $4 a gallon, the report said Trump could face growing domestic pressure to bring the war to an early end.
UNI