The US-Israeli strategy against Iran is working. Here is why

play Live Sign upShow navigation menu.css-15ru6p1{font-size:inherit;font-weight:normal;}Navigation menuNewsShow more news sectionsAfricaAsiaUS & CanadaLatin AmericaEuropeAsia PacificMiddle EastExplainedOpinionSportVideoMoreShow more sectionsFeaturesEconomyHuman RightsClimate CrisisInvestigationsInteractivesIn PicturesScience & TechnologyPodcastsTravelplay Live Click here to searchsearchSign upNavigation menucaret-leftUS-Israel war on IranLive trackerCould the US deploy troops to Iran?Iran’s weaponsCould Iran be using China's BeiDou system?A simple guide to Irancaret-rightOPINIONOPINION, Opinion|US-Israel war on IranThe US-Israeli strategy against Iran is working. Here is whyEvery aspect of Iran’s ability to project regional power is being successfully degraded. Listen to this article | 14 minsinfoTwo explosions are seen in footage released by US President Donald that he says shows the bombing of Iran’s Kharg Island [Handout/Donald Trump via social media]By Muhanad SeloomPublished On 16 Mar 202616 Mar 2026Click here to share on social mediashare2Share googleAdd Al Jazeera on GoogleinfoTwo weeks into Operation Epic Fury, the dominant narrative has settled into a comfortable groove: The United States and Israel stumbled into a war without a plan.

Iran is retaliating across the region. Oil prices are surging, and the world is facing another Middle Eastern quagmire. US senators have called it a blunder.

Cable news has tallied the crises. Commentators have warned of a long war. The chorus is loud and, in some respects, understandable.

War is ugly, and this one has imposed real costs on millions of people across the Middle East, including the city I live in. But this narrative is wrong. Not because the costs are imaginary, but because the critics are measuring the wrong things.

They are cataloguing the price of the campaign while ignoring the strategic ledger. When you look at what has actually happened to Iran’s principal instruments of power – its ballistic missile arsenal, its nuclear infrastructure, its air defences, its navy and its proxy command architecture – the picture is not one of US failure. It is one of systematic, phased degradation of a threat that previous administrations allowed to grow for four decades.

I write this from Doha, where Iranian missiles have triggered alerts for residents to take shelter and Qatar Airways has started operating evacuation flights. I lived through four years of war in Baghdad. I have worked for the US Department of State and advised defence and intelligence agencies in multiple countries.