Donald Trump took just minutes to slap down Iran after years of US dithering

For decades, Iran has been a malign influence throughout the Middle East, sponsoring terrorism and encouraging regional conflict between Sunni and Shia Muslims. Israel's defeat of Iran's proxy armies and the US delivering the coup de gras to its nuclear programme should allow the region to enjoy peace and prosperity for years to come.

Sometimes there is nothing quite like decisive action. For years, Democrats and Republicans and the European Union negotiated with Iran, doing little to stop its scientists enriching uranium for potential nuclear bombs. After all that dithering, it took just minutes for Donald Tump's B-2 stealth bombers to devastate the country's nuclear sites.

While everyone agrees that the world is better off without Iran's nuclear weapons, very few Western leaders have backed President Trump's action. The same is true of Palestine. Iran-funded Hamas has only ever wanted to see the eradication of Israel, culminating in its murderous assault on October 7, 2023.

America aside, Western leaders have talked endlessly and impotently about de-escalation and the resumption of a status quo, but Israel quite rightly wants to end the rule of Hamas forever. Only with the removal of this terror regime can there be peace in the Middle East.

Trump has an excellent record in this regard. In his first term, he pressed for the Abraham Accords in which some Arab states normalised their relationship with Israel. He has consistently stood up for Saudi Arabia against Iran as the latter used its proxy armies in Palestine, Lebanon and the Yemen to threaten and disrupt attempts at peaceful coexistence.

Now, thanks to Israel's tenacious and ingenious assaults on Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis, alongside the collapse of the Assad regime in Syria, Iran's influence is much diminished and we are closer than ever to lasting Middle Eastern peace.

By choosing to back Israel wholeheartedly, and strengthening friendly relations with the Saudis and the Gulf States, including lifting sanctions on Syria, Trump has chosen the winning side. While weaker leaders like Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron witter on about legality and the international rule of law, Iran clearly flouts it. Now Trump has finally called out the tyrannical regime and pushed it to the brink of destruction.

Humiliated by relentless air raids that demonstrated how weak they really are, Iran is no longer the leader of anti-Western powers in that region it once claimed to be. It is important to note that China's only intervention has been to ensure the Hormuz Straits are not closed by a vengeful Iran to stop oil flowing to the rest of the world.

Russia, who got many of its drones from Iran, has been relatively quiet, too. It would probably serve peace in Ukraine well if Trump eventually tired of Putin's procrastinations and allowed Ukraine to deploy long-range US weaponry that brings the war closer to Moscow.

Trump's vision of the world is one of peace and prosperity. Where others see missile launch pads, he sees beachside condominiums. The real-estate business man is frankly baffled by age-old feuds that keep potentially prosperous populations in poverty and fear.

For his decisive action in Iran and his dogged pursuit of a realistic settlement in the Middle East, backing Israel against terrorist states, he should be nominated for the Nobel Peace prize.

By using a strong stick rather than a limp carrot, he has shown that US military might coupled with decisive action, can continue to bring peace and freedom to the world, as it did during the Second World War. Western leaders who still prefer inaction and endless talk should take heed of this lesson.

Alexander the Great once settled the intractable problem of the Gordian Knot with the edge of his sword. Trump may just have achieved a similar result in the Middle East and for that he deserves all our thanks.