Six months in, Iran’s regime stands, US goals remain unmet
It is difficult to see the war as anything other than a failure by the US to bend Iran to its will, with damaging strategic and economic implications for Washington still to play out.
The US goal of transforming Iran's regime through military force appears to have failed. Six months after the US and Israel attacked Iran, the Islamic Republic's leadership remains in place. According to The Mainichi, the US and Israel had hoped to topple Iran's clerical leadership and replace it with a pro-Western government, but instead, they have ended up with a "hardened and very radical regime".
The conflict has had significant implications for the region. The Mainichi reports that Gulf Arab nations have seen gaps open up in the American security umbrella they have relied on for decades, and some are now looking at alternatives. Israel's actions in Gaza and land seizures have also put its relationship with the US at risk.
The US goals in the conflict remain unmet, with Iran finding a potent form of leverage in the Strait of Hormuz. The region has changed, but not in the way the US and Israel had hoped. Barbara Leaf, a former US ambassador, described the current situation as "exceptionally difficult to deal with".
Brief written by urgent.news from The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Mainichi — 3 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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