Epic Faux Pas

For Iran, survival is victory. The martyrdom of Khamenei has had a rallying effect, and its strategy is built on domestic civil-military endurance and regional-global deterrence

- Lt Gen Dr Subrata Saha (Retd)

THE February-March 2026 US-Israel versus Iran war has entered its second week now, militarily engulfing several Gulf nations. Further widening the zone of conflict was the American torpedo attack on the Iranian ship IRIS Dena about 44 nautical miles off Sri Lanka’s southern coast. The economic effect of the war in this resource-rich region, which lies adjacent to the third-busiest sea lane in the world, is proving to be much more widespread and potentially unbearable.

From a politico-military perspective, the two most shocking ambiguities are: first, the rapidly shifting objectives of the US. Second, who exactly is driving the campaign—the US or Israel? The US started the war with the express purpose of self-defence—protecting US forces and interests in the region. Alongside these came objectives to “annihilate” the Iranian navy, destroy Iran’s missile sites and programmes, and weaken the network of Iran-backed terrorist and armed groups across the region. Following the assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, regime change in Iran became another declared objective. To quote US President Donald Trump: “This is the single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their country.” The latest addition to this array of aims is control over the selection of the next ruler of Iran and possible support to insurgency in the Kurdish region to further stretch the Iranian forces.