Iran is a sovereign nation with a full fledged army, navy and a rudimentary air force (largely crippled due to long sanctions). But it has oil. And it is selling oil to China, which in turn has been providing it with arms and ammunition. It is a country that has thousands of years of history, it is a well educated nation, with a proud past. It is not a weak GCC nation that has to depend on USA to protect itself from external aggression. Using asymmetric warfare and an astute strategy, coupled with complete decentralization of command and control, Iran has been able to outwit and overpower Israel and USA. It first depleted the air defence systems of Israel and the US bases with its cheap but lethal drones, and has now shifted gear to hypersonic missiles. Through pragmatic targeting Iran has systematically destroyed the eyes and ears of Israeli and US bases. Using its intelligence, it has made USA and Israel run for cover. I hope our politicians and those who run our war apparatus take lessons from this conflict and tune their strategy accordingly.
