Iran Is Betting America Will Cut And Run

We can still win this war. The question is whether we have the political will to do so.

Allan J. Feifer | August 23, 2026

Iran has stymied the United States for the moment, even though, by almost any conventional measure, it should be decisively defeated. The American people grudgingly believed their president when he said the conflict would be over quickly. Unfortunately, the enemy got their vote.

Let there be no mistake: Iran has not achieved any victory, much less a military one. It has suffered hundreds of billions in damage and a decimated pool of former leaders. Yet, like a punch-drunk fighter, it still stands. Don’t confuse defiance for victory, though.

Iran’s strategy isn’t about defeating America, but surviving long enough to see America’s political will fracture, as it repeatedly does. America, with Israel’s willing help, has the military ability and logistics to destroy much of Iran’s ability to make war. What it lacks is the political freedom to use that power without domestic and international consequences.

Iran’s risk calculation differs from ours. The Islamic Republic’s revolutionary leadership operates within a religious worldview that anticipates the eventual return of the Hidden Imam, the 12th Imam, and the triumph of divine justice.

There have long been allegations that some senior Iranian officials believe creating conditions favorable to the Mahdi’s return is essential. That does not mean Iran necessarily seeks nuclear Armageddon or that its leaders are suicidal. It does mean we should be circumspect about a regime with an intensely religious conception of history and destiny.

Iran knows it cannot defeat the West militarily today. But nuclear weapons would change that calculation, giving Tehran a weapon capable of imposing extraordinary costs on its enemies and potentially shielding the regime from the consequences of its aggression. We dare not give it time to acquire that capability.

The question is no longer whether........

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