Board Of Peace In Theatres Of War: Where Is Trump's Project As Gaza, Iran Burn?

"What we're doing is very simple… It's called the Board of Peace" – Donald Trump on Feb 19.

Nine days later US and Israel forces bombed Iran.

Nearly a month on missile and drone attacks have spread across the Middle East. Over 2,600 (a conservative estimate) people, the majority civilians and children, have been killed.

Public and oil infrastructure, like refineries and depots, have been targeted, businesses have lost billions of dollars and billions more have been wiped out as stock markets crash worldwide.

Iran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz – through which a fifth of the world's oil and gas is shipped – has led to global energy supply volatility, driving prices of benchmark Brent crude past the US$100 per barrel redline twice this month and for the first time in nearly four years.

And Tehran's targeting of Gulf nations – specifically the United Arab Emirates – drags it, Saudi Arabia, and others into a wider regional conflict to add to fighting in Ukraine since Feb 2022.

But Trump's Board of Peace – seen by many as the US President building street cred for the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize, an accolade he demanded last year, for 'stopping eight wars in eight months' and then sulked after being snubbed – has been curiously silent amid all the killing.

Though that isn't entirely accurate. At the only Board of Peace meeting so far Trump threatened Iran – as US military warships and aircraft circled – if it did not make a "meaningful" deal.

The argument will be the Board was not set up for matters relating to Iran, that the claimed focus of the bloc was Phase 2 of the Israel-Gaza ceasefire deal from October 2025.

But this is difficult to accept given the Board's goal is "to promote stability, restore dependable and lawful governance, and secure enduring peace in areas affected or threatened by conflict".

It is also difficult to understand an argument that says Trump's project will work for peace in Gaza while the President orders military attacks on Iran, and with no clear off-ramp – aside from general talk of regime change and Iran's nuclear programme – to de-escalate the fighting.

In fact, one could argue the fighting in Iran and the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has re-ignited public anger in the Islamic world against the US and Trump.

Meanwhile, conflict in Gaza continues despite the October 'ceasefire' and Board of Peace.

On March 13 Al Jazeera reported an Israeli drone attack in southern Gaza killed a father and daughter, and highlighted the ongoing food and energy shortage, and lack of medical facilities.

Tel Aviv, Al Jazeera said, has continued firing missiles even after the Iran war started; shrapnel damaged houses in the town of Biddya in the northern part of West Bank on March 2.

Ramy Abdu, head of the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, told Al Jazeera: "The war with Iran has given Israel broader space to intensify crimes in Gaza", while analysts cited by The New Arab said the focus on Iran meant Israel could stall implementation of the UN peace plan.

What all this means is the Board of Peace has not held a second meeting since Feb 19, while Nobel Prize-seeker Trump pursues a military agenda against 'scumbag' Iranians, after threatening to annex Greenland and Cuba, and illegally kidnap a head of state from Venezuela to control its oil.

Its political standing has also been weakened after Indonesia – the world's largest Muslim-majority nation – said it would quit if its national interests, and that of Palestine, are not aided.

And it isn't just Indonesia; sources told US news outlet Politico that Azerbaijan and Jordan have expressed concern over the war in Iran delaying peace and reconstruction in Gaza. And others, like, Turkey, have questioned the role Washington is playing in delivering on the board's promise.

In the final analysis, the Board of Peace remains 'missing in action' at a time when the world needs it most.