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Is the United States succeeding in Iran? It depends on who you ask. In a Pew Research survey published last week, 61 percent of Americans disapproved of U.S. President Donald Trump’s handling of the conflict, while 37 percent expressed approval. The numbers mirror support for Trump in general, suggesting a divide in opinion based largely on partisan predispositions. Tellingly, seven out of every 10 Republicans but only one out of every 10 Democrats approve of how the White House is executing the war so far.

Another way of examining the success of the joint U.S. and Israeli assault on Iran could be the scale of damage. On this metric and after one month of conflict, the United States and Israel have imposed far more costs on Iran than the other way round. Several top Iranian political and military leaders have been killed, including the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei; Iran’s air force and navy have mostly been destroyed; its nuclear program has been further set back; its ability to launch ballistic missiles has been degraded; and one of Iran’s key allies, the Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah, has faced intense bombardment. On the other side of the ledger, the main headline is that Iran has succeeded in shutting down key routes of travel and commerce without inflicting much lasting damage so far.

Is the United States succeeding in Iran? It depends on who you ask. In a Pew Research survey published last week, 61 percent of Americans disapproved of U.S. President Donald Trump’s handling of the conflict, while 37 percent expressed approval. The numbers mirror support for Trump in general, suggesting a divide in opinion based largely on partisan predispositions. Tellingly, seven out of every 10 Republicans but only one out of every 10 Democrats approve of how the White House is executing the war so far.

Another way of examining the success of the joint U.S. and Israeli assault on Iran could be the scale of damage. On this metric and after one month of conflict, the United States and Israel have imposed far more costs on Iran than the other way round. Several top Iranian political and military leaders have been killed, including the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei; Iran’s air force and navy have mostly been destroyed; its nuclear program has been further set back; its ability to launch ballistic missiles has been degraded; and one of Iran’s key allies, the Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah, has faced intense bombardment. On the other side of the ledger, the main........

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