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In Donald Trump's post on social media, where he announced that Iran had shot down a US military Apache helicopter, one sentence stands out in particular.
After emphasizing that the pilots were rescued and did not suffer any injuries, the American president adds: "However, the United States must, out of necessity, respond to this attack."
The tone sounds almost involuntary, as if military retaliation is something that must be done, even though Trump himself doesn't want to do it.
This is especially significant given that the president is talking about an Iranian attack on US forces during a ceasefire. Under other circumstances, such an incident might have prompted much more aggressive statements from Washington.
In fact, Trump's reaction stands far from his previous rhetoric, when he threatened to strike Iranian infrastructure and even end "Iranian civilization" if Tehran did not surrender.
The current message presents a president who does not want to return to a full-scale military conflict with Iran and who is not even trying to hide this position.
For weeks, Trump has made it clear that his main objective is to avoid a new war and reach an agreement that would allow the US to exit the crisis with Iran through diplomacy.
For this reason, the US administration has downplayed or attempted to downplay a number of incidents and potential ceasefire violations. The same approach was seen over the weekend, when Iran and Israel resumed exchanging attacks.
But this strategy also has a dangerous side.
The more Iran becomes convinced that Trump does not want a return to war, the more the American president's negotiating ability is reduced. In diplomacy, the willingness to use force often serves as a tool of pressure. If the other side concludes that war is not a realistic option for Washington, then the power of the American threat also fades significantly.
Herein lies Trump's dilemma: he wants to avoid a new conflict in the Middle East, but by making this objective so clear, he risks giving Tehran more room to test the limits of American patience. / CNN
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