Iran Has the Upper Hand — And Trump Knows It: Pakistani Senator

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Senator Mushahid Hussain tells Al Arabiya English that after four weeks of conflict, Iran’s resilience has shattered Washington and Tel Aviv’s original war plan — and Trump is now “pleading for peace”

By TRH World Desk

New Delhi, March 28, 2026 — Pakistani Senator Mushahid Hussain has delivered a blunt assessment of the US-Iran conflict: Tehran holds the upper hand — and Washington has no clear path to victory.

Speaking to Al Arabiya English, the senator pushed back sharply against claims by US President Donald Trump that America has already won. “People are entitled to their opinions, but they are not entitled to their facts,” Hussain said, before laying out his case point by point.

The senator argued that neither Trump nor Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu anticipated the war entering a fourth week with Iran still firmly standing. Their original plan, he said, was swift and decisive: eliminate Iran’s top leadership within 24 hours and watch the regime collapse from within. “It never happened,” Hussain said flatly.

He pointed to Iran’s ability to strike near Dimona — in close proximity to Israel’s nuclear facility — and its successful closure of the Strait of Hormuz as evidence that Tehran’s military capability has exceeded all enemy expectations. “Plan A was the only plan. There was no Plan B,” he said.

Hussain dismissed Netanyahu’s public statements as “bravado,” arguing the Israeli prime minister has quietly come to recognise that Iran will outlast any timeline Washington or Tel Aviv had envisioned.

His remarks align with an assessment given to The Economist by Sir Alex Younger, former head of Britain’s MI6, who also concluded that Iran currently holds the strategic advantage.

“Trump seems confused. He seems worried. He’s changing his goalposts,” Hussain said. “He knows this is going to be an unwinnable war without end. That’s why Trump is pleading for peace.”