A Futile War of Shameful Defeat

  •   Wed, Jun 24 2026
  •   By Prof Sunney Tharappan

June 24, 2026

The US Israel Iran war is one of those small wars that affected the whole world because of the resistance, which Iran offered despite their losses. Those similarly fought, though it was not like the Vietnam or Afghanistan wars, that also the US lost, this conflict was much shorter in duration in comparison. However, Iran’s major success lay in involving many other Arabian countries in the war, a move which the United States did not anticipate. No doubt, the personal loss of soldiers on the American side is less compared to the enormous amount of wealth that they had to spend for the war. However, it is to be noted that Iran had heavy losses, both humans and infrastructure, and it will take plenty of time and money for them to rebuild as a nation. Yet it cannot be denied that Iran showed its Persian culture and Arabian power in the war and stands as a model for other Arabian countries; and also for the smaller South American countries, who may be attacked by the US when they find an opportunity to make benefits. 


Destructions beyond repair 

The best of the learning from the war is not for the US but for other Arabian countries who allowed American bases in their own countries. Iran could not direct retaliatory attacks on the US. However, they did it very dexterously by attacking US bases that remained in some of the Arabian countries, something which neither the US nor these Arabian countries ever anticipated. The allegation that one Arab country is attacking another was easily blocked by Iran by proving that they attacked only American establishments. The US seemed to have been taken by surprise when Iran attacked its own neighbouring nations keeping the US establishments in those countries as targets.

When the US ripped up the 2015 Obama administration agreements with Iran, it was easily understood that the US is on a mission. The declared objective of the US was the   destruction of the nuclear stockpile of Iran. However, this pretentiously hallowed objective was replaced by the American president and vice president, and a few of their cronies, through their declarations, that they would get the oil from Iran, as Iran has a stock of one fifth of the world’s oil reserve. At the end of the war, Iran still holds the stockpile of the oil reserve as well as the nuclear stockpile. The US was drunk with the success in Venezuela some time ago and their success in other countries in a similar way some years ago. The US did not understand that the Iranians are of a different stock.

Another objective, declared by the US, alongside similar declarations by their ally, Israel was to get the regime in Iran changed. From a physical point of view, they succeeded in killing the Supremo as also the spiritual leader of Iran, which the US thought will bring down the spirit and power of the administration as well as the people of Iran. The regime change never happened as desired by the US and Israel. Iran, despite losing the mighty Supremo and spiritual leader, continued to remain the same in the defence of their country. 


Pakistan as Mediator 

Yet another objective of the diabolical two was to threaten other small nations with the example of a defeat of Iran, which was one of the bigger Arabian nations that became powerful after the revolution. The US vice president himself and some of the top officials in the army declared that Cuba would be the next, while bathing in the thoughts of possible success during the initial days, when they bombed and destroyed several parts of Iran without ever imagining that the Persian descendants of Iran would never duck under. In fact, Iran became a model for other nations to resist the US onslaughts. Very often, one had to watch a pitiable and vainglorious president of the United States vacillating between threats and offers of olive leaves of compromise. The death of children and teachers in a girl’s school had posed a question to the whole world about the commitment of the US and Israel to humanity and the rest of the world.

The president of the United States still continues with his threats even after that peace agreement was signed by the two countries, the attacker and the attacked. Iran still makes a statement that it was never an attacker and that it had not attacked the United States. While hundreds of Iranians died because of US attacks, no common American was killed by any Iranian attack, they said.While Iran and US officials alongside political leaders from Qatar and Pakistan were discussing the finer details of the peace agreement, the US president was threatening possible new attacks on Iran, something only a senseless, so called leader can do.

It is testament to Iran’s success and the failure of the United States that the former was able to bring in stoppage of attacks on Lebanon, as a part of the peace agreement, a condition that Israel could not stomach. It is known to the whole world that Israel has occupied a considerable portion of land and people’s habitation in Southern Lebanon and continues to hold it, refusing to retreat, a demand which Iran is making by demanding that Israel stop its attack on Lebanon. There is no doubt that Iran is playing its cards very well by drawing Israel into the peace agreement by inserting stoppage of attacks on Lebanon, as a condition. Everyone knows that Hamas and Hezbollah radicals are a threat to Israel at any time and Israel is unwilling to part with the occupied lands just as they still continue to attack and hold territories in Palestine’s West Bank.

Just as the United States gets the brickbats from its own people for the way the war was started, continued and agreed to stop, the whole world is mocking at the most powerful nation in the world failing in front of an ordinary country which does not have even a portion of the might that the US has. Lebanon will remain a bone of contention in the peace agreement between the US and Iran and it will not be easy for the United States to extricate itself from the situation it created.

One of the greatest fallout of the peace negotiations at the end of the war, if it is an end at all, is the isolation of Israel which is deeply frustrated to see that the Lebanon issue is a part of the peace agreement without its direct involvement. Israel knows that it cannot go ahead alone and that Iran is playing the Lebanon card. Returning from occupied Lebanon will be one of the greatest defeats for the present regime in Israel. The infamous twelve day war still remains a token or a forewarning or a trial of the present war that was waged between and among US, Israel and Iran.

The saddest part of the war from different perspectives is the fate of Arab nations which learnt a bitter lesson in their foolhardy decisions in establishing American military centres for abject financial benefits. The Arab world looked at them with a sort of contempt for establishing centres for the US in their premises for petty financial benefits without considering possibilities like what Iran did. While these nations went down in the estimation of their people, Iran emerged a savior of its people despite the losses it suffered.

It will be interesting to look at the claims of the two sides. The US had three objectives. Primarily, it was for destruction of the stockpile of nuclear materials. Secondly, it was for a regime change. Thirdly, it was also to get power over the oil stocks of Iran. However, none of these materialised. As far as Israel was concerned, it wanted to continue its destruction of Lebanon’s radicals whom they called terrorists, supported by Iran. None of these were achieved by US Israel combined attacks as the peace agreements of fourteen points testify.

Chance was on Iran’s side that it created a geopolitical storm through its strategic move of closing off the Strait of Hormuz. The world was struck under, and the economic stress that was created made many countries, including our own country, go into jitters with regard to several international supply chain movements, especially transport of oil and other oil products. This was never expected by the beginners of the attacks. That Iran’s ports were blockaded by the US only created a greater amount of economic stress on other countries. So there were several reasons for the US to look forward to a peace process with Iran and they left out Israel because they were sure no peace forces could work with that nation’s presence in the peace talks. Evidently, Iran has also succeeded in not parting with its nuclear stockpile.

One actually wonders why the United States walked into a defeat and suffering widespread disapproval of their own people, loss of considerable amount of money and loss of each of the objectives that they declared for the war with nuclear pile still in safe custody of Iran, with no regime change, with international resentment against the war, with Lebanon still a burning issue, with the same regime in Iran continuing, the US is left facing its own defeat, rather miserably.

 

 

 
By Prof Sunney Tharappan
Prof Sunney Tharappan is director of College for Leadership and HRD, Mangaluru. He trains and writes and lives in Mangaluru. Email: tharappans@gmail.com
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