'Suez moment': US missteps in Iran echo across East Asia to the Gulf and Europe

US air defence systems and troops have been withdrawn from East Asia. Pleas for missile interceptors in the oil-rich Gulf have been "stonewalled". Even an air base in Romania has been roped into the US-Israeli war on Iran.

What US President Donald Trump has characterised as a “little excursion” is fast becoming the biggest drain on the security architecture of the world’s foremost superpower since the end of the Cold War.

The US is taking a lot from its partners across the globe to wage war on the Islamic Republic, even as lawmakers and world leaders question what the purpose of the conflict is.

To make matters worse, the Trump administration has yet to provide answers to tactical questions about how it will break Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz or tame energy prices that have skyrocketed as a result.

Read more: 'Suez moment': US missteps in Iran echo across East Asia to the Gulf and Europe