Xinhua Headlines: Raging Mideast war dims U.S. hopes for quick win, ignites global calls for de-escalation

The warfare sparked by U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran entered its 12th day on Wednesday. Observers have noted that while the United States and Israel have achieved some tactical gains, the escalating fighting has dashed Washington's hopes for a quick victory.

CAIRO, March 11 (Xinhua) -- The warfare sparked by U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran entered its 12th day on Wednesday, with more than a dozen nations affected so far and shockwaves felt across the globe.

Observers have noted that while the United States and Israel have achieved some tactical gains on the battlefield, the escalating fighting has dashed Washington's hopes for a quick victory.

As concerns grow over a protracted war of attrition, so does the international chorus for an immediate end to hostilities and a return to the negotiating table.

SPRAWLING WAR FLAMES

As of Wednesday, the conflict, which has extended across all Gulf states and several other countries in the region, looks set to outlast the "12-day war" between Iran and the Israeli-U.S. coalition in June 2025.

At the epicenter of the regional crisis, Iran has suffered heavy losses. During the initial U.S.-Israeli strikes, Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed, along with several of the country's senior officials. The country's military installations, leadership compounds, and strategic infrastructure also came under heavy bombardment.

Iranian authorities have so far reported more than 1,300 deaths. Among the victims were over 160 schoolgirls who were killed when a strike hit a school in southern Iran.

In retaliation, Iran has launched more than 30 waves of missile and drone attacks on U.S. and Israeli targets across the Middle East, and Tehran-aligned militias have also stepped up assaults across the region.

Shortly after the strikes on Iran, Hezbollah began firing rockets and drones into northern Israel. Israel responded with extensive airstrikes and ground operations across Lebanon, targeting Hezbollah's leadership and infrastructure.

According to Lebanese officials, the fighting has killed at least 570 people and displaced nearly 760,000, with the entire neighborhoods in southern Lebanon and the southern suburbs of Beirut coming under Israeli attacks.

Beyond the battlefield, the war has sent shockwaves far and wide. The aviation sector has borne the brunt. As the fighting continues and spreads, major airports across the Middle East have been forced to cancel or delay flights for safety reasons, causing significant disruptions to the region's aviation industry.

The global energy market has also suffered severe disruption. The effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway that normally carries around 20 percent of the world's oil and gas, has forced some shipping companies to suspend operations.

Strikes on energy infrastructure have compounded the disruption. Israel attacked Iranian oil facilities over the weekend, prompting retaliatory strikes by Iran on energy sites across the Gulf. Several key facilities have been forced to shut down or reduce operations.

The combined shocks have sent global oil prices up by more than 25 percent in the early days of the conflict, with crude briefly trading between 100 and 120 U.S. dollars a barrel, the highest levels in years.

Amin Nasser, chief executive officer of Saudi Aramco, warned Tuesday that prolonged instability triggered by the military escalation could have far-reaching consequences for global energy flows and the broader economy.

WAR WITHOUT CLEAR STRATEGY

As one of the initiators of the strikes on Iran, U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday said the U.S.-Israeli military campaign against Tehran would be over "very soon."

Although he later walked back some of those remarks, signaling a possible escalation in attacks on Iran, analysts said the messages coming from Washington reflect uncertainty over whether it can achieve the objectives it set before the conflict.

"Washington is likely aware that prolonged military engagements in the Middle East tend to become costly, complex, and politically sensitive both domestically and internationally," said Akram Atallah, a Palestinian analyst from Gaza.

As Atallah noted, before and during their airstrikes on Iran, the United States and Israel had declared their goals: to eliminate Iran's ballistic missile capabilities, achieve zero enriched uranium, and potentially facilitate a "regime change."

Yet none of these objectives has been achieved. The initial strikes killed Ali Khamenei, but his second son, Mojtaba Khamenei, who also holds an anti-American stance, was quickly selected as the new supreme leader. That, analysts said, reflects both the resilience of Iran's political system and the strategic miscalculations of the United States and Israel.

"The United States has entered a dilemma," Mokhtar Ghobashy, secretary-general of the Al-Farabi Center for Political Studies in Egypt, told Xinhua.

"There are mistakes and poor strategy by the United States, because it clearly did not realize that Iran is a strategic knot present in this region and that this political system cannot be overthrown easily," Ghobashy added.

Some Western scholars also argue that the United States currently lacks a clear strategic foundation in its conflict with Iran.

"Usually, the U.S. would arrive at a major war only after creating an internal consensus, sharing goals and information with allies, and building support among the population, the political class, and the media," said Vali R. Nasr, an expert on Iran and Shiite Islam at Johns Hopkins University, in a recent interview. "None of this has happened."

"The United States' biggest mistake was believing that military force alone could produce a new political order in the region, ignoring the deep social, sectarian, and tribal complexities," said Adel al-Ghurairi, an Iraqi political analyst and professor at Baghdad University.

GLOBAL CALLS FOR PEACE

Amid mounting tensions and escalating spillover effects, the international community has ramped up calls for an immediate halt to military operations, urging all parties to exercise restraint and prioritize dialogue and diplomacy.

Protests have erupted in multiple countries, including the United States, Iran, India and Iraq, condemning the U.S.-Israeli military actions against Iran and demanding an end to foreign intervention and a restoration of peace.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Friday that the situation in the Middle East "could spiral beyond anyone's control," stressing that "it is time to stop the fighting and get to serious diplomatic negotiations."

EU leaders said on Monday that the bloc was ready to play a role in easing tensions in the Middle East, calling for de-escalation and a return to negotiations.

National leaders have also issued urgent calls for diplomatic efforts to bring about de-escalation. In recent days, leaders from countries including Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Türkiye and Iraq have all emphasized the need for relevant parties to exercise restraint, de-escalate the situation, prioritize dialogue, and pursue a diplomatic resolution.

In a phone call on Tuesday with Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reiterated Russia's hopes for a swift de-escalation and a return to a political and diplomatic settlement, adding that Russia remains ready to help facilitate such efforts.

China, for its part, has repeatedly called for an immediate ceasefire, a return to dialogue, respect for national sovereignty, and the protection of civilians. Zhai Jun, special envoy of the Chinese government on the Middle East issue, is visiting the region to push for de-escalation.

(Video reporters: Dong Xiuzhu, Zhang Yanfang, Yao Bing, Marwa Yahya, Adel Ahmed, Mahmoud Fouly, Huang Zemin, Emad Drimly, Sanaa Kamal, Li Jun, Khalil Dawood; video editors: Liu Ruoshi, Luo Hui, Zheng Qingbin)■