The US-Iran war has brought unending misery. The dust has barely settled, yet the conflict continues to stir new trouble. The US believes the world must succumb to its hard power; history, however, suggests otherwise. The Hormuz crisis has added another failed chapter to the US’s long record of foreign-policy misadventures. Beyond President Donald Trump’s own drumbeat of claims, Washington appears to have fallen short on all its stated objectives: reopening the Strait of Hormuz, curbing Iran’s nuclear programme, changing the Iranian regime and dismantling Iran’s regional proxies.

Nothing has favoured the US. On the contrary, Iran has not only survived but emerged as a formidable regional power. Diplomacy, too, has yielded little, failing to produce meaningful results or persuade the parties involved. Out of the dust, Iran has risen again like a phoenix. This is a moment that may well enter the annals of modern history, heralding a new roadmap, a new order and a new sense of national glory. Perhaps this is an occasion that reflects the ideals of the Iranian Revolution — a moment in which Iran has rediscovered the enduring strength of its culture and civilisation and the seeds of its own regeneration. 

As the acclaimed Iranian novelist Shahriar Mandanipour once wrote, Iranians are too proud of despair and belong to too ancient a civilisation to collapse into that pit of darkness. They have redefined the meaning of modern warfare, revealing an unprecedented willpower in the face of overwhelming odds and one of the world’s most powerful militaries. 

The order of Pax Americana has begun to fracture. The war has brought a defining moment that could reshape global politics and the very art of warfare. Yet this moment has brought neither simple rejoicing nor a celebration of rationality prevailing over barbarism by ending a devastation that has held the world hostage. Instead, it has sent a message to the US: Iran does not believe in surrender. It has endured decades of coercive sanctions without capitulating. 

President Donald Trump, perhaps one of the most unconventional presidents the US has ever had, is known for his unprincipled and often amoral positions, as well as his tendency to humiliate allies and adversaries alike. But the war has reversed the tide, bringing shame and dishonour to Trump both at home and across the wider world. Iran brought him to his........

© National Herald