By MAKAYLA JOHNSON ’26
Updated 11:50 a.m. EDT, 20 Mar 2026
A Note from the Editors: The war in Iran has a large global and national impact, and is a complex issue with many sides. We encourage our readers to continue researching and understanding all sides of the issue. Our purpose in publishing an article of this nature is to open the conversation between Houghton Students.
On Feb. 28, 2026, Israel initiated a strike on Iran, which quickly gained the attention of the Trump Administration. According to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) News, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz stated that these attacks were a “pre-emptive strike” to “remove threats against the state of Israel.” The United States (US) Secretary of State Marco Rubio echoed Katz, explaining that the “US knew there was going to be Israeli action, which meant America had to act ‘pre-emptively’” as well. The US and Israel have been targeting “key sites linked to Iran’s nuclear programme,” though Iran maintains that the program is “entirely peaceful.”
John Daniel Davidson of The Federalist wrote about President Donald J. Trump’s declaration that “‘we’ve won’” and it “was all over ‘in the first hour’” during his speech on Wednesday, March 11. Davidson stated, “It’s looking less and less like the president will simply be able to declare victory and walk away.” This is largely because, though “wounded, Iran is still fighting.” Despite his claims of a quick victory, Trump is aware that the war is ongoing. This was demonstrated in his “order [to] the release of 172 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Oil Reserve, the largest such release in its history” this past week. In order to end the war, the Strait of Hormuz must be secured in order to restore “the normal flow of oil traffic that underpins much of the global economy.” Davidson ended his piece by explaining that even if Trump “wants a quick end to this war for political reasons … he needs to be realistic with his countrymen about what exactly he’s gotten us into.”
Stephen Collinson with Cable News Network (CNN) has another take: the US and Israel are fighting two separate wars. Modern warfare is often fraught with various driving forces, and it is difficult to fully align with another country’s agenda. Collinson criticized Trump’s “struggl[e] to coin a definitive war rationale.” According to the article, the administration has issued several warnings, including claims about Iran’s nuclear program and its potential to “destroy the Middle East.” This war is not cut and dry. Iran understands its military is not as strong as the US. Instead, their tactic lies in “outlasting Americans’ tolerance for a new foreign war.”
Besides the devastation in Iran and the loss of human life, this war is affecting the average American. A correspondent from BBC News echoed Davidson’s concerns about oil prices, explaining that the “effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz,” which Iran is accused of causing by “attacking ships in the Gulf,” has caused gas and oil prices to surge.
Aside from national challenges, Houghton University (HU) students are also feeling the effects of the war. Aside from the economic and emotional impacts, it has impacted the travel plans of students. One example is Joshua Szymanski ‘28, whose mission trip to Sri Lanka was canceled over spring break due to the current state of the Middle East. He expressed that “as bummed out as [he] was that [his] trip was canceled,” he knew things would “be worse for him” if he had left when they were scheduled to depart. The conflict has prevented him from traveling and carrying out the mission work he had planned.
While American involvement in Iran is directly affecting the lives of Americans and the opportunities and ministries of HU students, it continues to have global effects. ★
