USA – Iran War -The Unfinished Business

President Trump seems caught up in his own beliefs and may not realize the full impact of his actions. He is trying to fix past mistakes, taking on unfinished business that belongs to others.
Remember, while this article appears to focus on President Trump, the underlying theme is not just about him—it is about all of us. Just as political leaders and nations try to resolve past conflicts and complete unfinished business, each of us carries our own unresolved issues. Think about a disagreement with a friend that was never settled, or a project at work you couldn’t finish. These loose ends can repeat in our minds, causing confusion, tiredness, and mental fatigue. In the same way, nations become trapped in cycles of unfinished business, reliving old wounds and trying to achieve closure. By drawing this parallel, you can see how your personal experience is not so different from what plays out on the global stage.

Unfinished Business – a Psychological Perspective.

Unfinished business occurs when an issue doesn’t conclude as you expected. You experience unhappiness and disappointment when others don’t behave as per your desire or align with your model of the world. This often leads to disliking the other person, family, organization, or country that does not fit within your mental model. The term ‘unfinished business,’ also known as the Zeigarnick effect, is named after researcher Bluma Zeigarnick.
Last December, I took a short vacation with a confirmed return bus ticket. On the travel day, the agency called to inform me my bus was rescheduled, delaying my trip by 5 hours. This delay prevented me from meeting commitments the next day. The representative assured me the bus would still reach the destination or refund my fare. However, the bus was late and dropped me at a junction since it was heading elsewhere. The next day, I filed a complaint; the representative promised to call back but never did. They stopped answering my calls. The issue bothered me for two days as it remained unresolved until I decided to close it. Leaving it unresolved would occupy my mental space and peace of mind.
It’s like a loop that remains open and runs until closed. Once closed, people often forget the event and move on, ready for the next task. Otherwise, the mind keeps circling in that loop, exhausting energy and causing fatigue.
These principles apply equally to individuals, families, institutions, corporations, kingdoms, and countries because we identify as members of those groups. Like individuals, groups carry past unfinished business or failures into the future, hoping to turn them into success. We project past failures and defeats forward, hoping to restore lost glory.

Unfinished Business – The Zeigarnick Effect

During the Cold War, Iran was a crucial strategic nation that the US influenced by supporting the Shah after the 1953 uprising. The US then kept the Shah as a puppet ruler, encouraging modernization and development. Still, most Iranians viewed him as a fragile monarch controlled by foreign powers rather than their own. In 1979, his overthrow was more than just the fall of a ruler for Washington; it was a significant blow to American pride and a psychological setback, leaving a lasting, unhealed wound.
After the Shah of Iran was overthrown, he fled to the USA. The Americans did not achieve their original goals and instead tried to exert various pressure tactics on Iran and its people under different pretexts. Iranians stayed determined, confident in their mission to defend their country. They recognized the opposition’s intent to exploit their position, further economically weaken them, and take control over their mineral resources.
The current USA-Iran war is unfinished business, a Zeigarnick effect that was bound to happen. The people of Iran felt complete because they were a sovereign nation, free from control by any other nation. The Americans were feeling incomplete, having been driven out of that country. Being a superpower, the fall hurt U.S. pride, and the hostage crisis, where American diplomats were held as prisoners, made things worse.

Unfinished Business – Projected into the Future.

As with the USA-Iran current war, it started in 1979 when the Iranian Shah was overthrown, and they lost benefits. The same war projected into the future; the current war is a projection of the past, lingering for 47 years. Various U.S. presidents tried to settle it in different ways. None resolved it. President Obama made some progress, but when Trump took office, he scrapped that project. The wound remained unhealed for 47 years and turned into an ulcer.
Take Israel: after the spread of Islam, Jewish people lost their homeland and scattered worldwide. During World War II, they were persecuted by the Germans. Millions were killed in genocide, having no country of their own. The British accommodated them in the Middle East, and that’s how Israel was reborn. Israelites search for their lost identity by restoring Israel to its original state. They want to restore the past, which can never happen. The past can never be restored; that’s the dream of foolish men.
The message of unfinished business was embedded in their genes, which gets passed on to different generations. Finally, at the end of the Second World War, the State of Israel was created. Israel, through its various Prime Ministers, is trying to reclaim the lost land. In the process of restoring their biblical land, they have created enmity with their neighboring countries, currently with Gaza, Palestinians, Yemenis, and Lebanon. People of Gaza will remember the massacre of their people and pass on the genocide committed by Israel to their offspring for many years to come, and again, the people of Israel will have to pay the price. This is a never-ending process, because the past cannot be fixed. The war can take a religious twist, and many of the Muslim countries might want to settle the scores with Israel in the future.

Israel is an opportunist.

In the current war, Israel has started attacking Iran with the USA’s support. Iran is the only country standing against the USA and Israel. Other West Asian countries are either compromised or rely on the USA to guard their sovereignty in exchange for petroleum. If Iran loses, Israel will gain a solid grip over West Asia and most Arab countries, advancing their hidden agenda to expand Israel.

Living in a Delusion – the Illusion of the Past

So it’s a Zeigarnick trap that can’t be settled, no matter how many wars are fought. What is broken remains broken; it cannot be restored to its former glory. But the human mind carries memories of the past and projects them into the future, and we are carriers of that unfinished business. We live in our delusion, in a birth hypnotic trance, as with President Trump. The current war is not his, nor can he fix it. Our ancestors want someone else to finish their unfinished business.
The citizens of America also live in Trump’s delusion. He promises Americans he will “Make America Great Again,” when they are already great, a superpower. One can ask simple questions – Greater than who? Does this statement come from their insecurity? The American people got lost in his narrative, which touched their egos and distorted reality. They were carried away by his rhetoric, and similar rhetoric applies to Iran: “We’ve got to finish them before they finish us.”
Unconsciously, Americans and Iranians projected the past into the future, and now the past is the present. The current war matters more to Americans because the 1979 loss hurt their ego and sense of supremacy. The people of Iran overthrew the Shah and guarded their sovereignty. Americans lost an ally and other benefits, and Iranians saw them as enemies because they saw through hidden agendas and could not trust them. The situation is repeating now.

Sovereignity

Every country has the right to be sovereign, and others don’t have the right to interfere. Iran and its people have upheld this for 47 years, despite America imposing sanctions to punish them and provoke revolt against the regime. When things get difficult, revolts happen, as in Iran recently. By imposing sanctions, Americans made Iranian lives miserable for 47 years, yet claim a high moral ground as a great nation. It’s a strange philosophy to live by and preach morality and ethics. Since America is a superpower, they believe that whatever they do, the world should accept their doing. They violate international law and abduct presidents of other countries, as in Venezuela, yet still claim moral superiority. That’s double standards.
Our minds are programmed to take up unfinished business and bring it to a conclusion. The mind itself does not end the decision, so it remains incomplete. It constantly reminds us of projects or failures to update and complete. Unconsciously, our minds take us into these incomplete loops, draining much energy. Instead of moving ahead, we loop nonstop depending on the issue’s severity. The American loss in 1979 to Iran was a terrible blow, recorded in history as a negative imprint on the US.

Unfinished Business Remains Unfinished

Both nations had been mentally preparing for this war by stockpiling ammunition for years. The certainty of conflict had been growing, highlighted by last year’s 12-day war involving Israel, the US, and Iran. The US, as a superpower, and Israel, a key ally in the Middle East, were expected to confront Iran and shift the dynamics. Although the tables did turn, it wasn’t in the way many anticipated. It seems that a greater force was at play, maintaining balance through a push-and-pull dynamic, like yin and yang, that operates beyond human imagination.
As we reflect on these cycles of unfinished business, both on the world stage and within ourselves, it is worth considering: What unfinished business are you carrying in your own life? Is there a conflict you avoid or a goal left incomplete that continues to drain your energy? Perhaps real change begins with each of us asking whether it is time to seek closure, forgive, or let go before the past shapes our future again. The question remains: What step can you take today to break your own cycle and bring peace to your mind?