NEW YORK, March 17. /TASS/. The White House, having launched an operation in Iran, failed to consider the strategy and consequences of escalation in the Middle East in advance, The New York Times (NYT) writes in an editorial column.

The American administration launched a war with Iran without explaining its strategy to the American people and the world, the newspaper notes. According to the newspaper, "President Trump went to war against Iran without explaining his strategy to the American people or the world. It now appears that he may not have had much of a strategy at all."

The first weeks of the operation against Iran "do not inspire confidence" and instead indicate that the behind-the-scenes planning in the White House may have been as reckless as its public behavior, the NYT writes. Specifically, the newspaper notes, Washington failed to consider in advance what to do in the event of disruptions in oil supplies and a spike in energy prices.

The United States and Israel launched a military operation against Iran on February 28. Major Iranian cities, including Tehran, were struck. The White House justified the attack by citing alleged missile and nuclear threats from Iran. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced a retaliatory operation, targeting sites in Israel. US military bases in Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE were also hit. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and some other key Iranian leaders were killed in the joint US-Israeli attack.