On 7 April 2026, a two-week ceasefire between Iran, the USA and Israel was declared. The declaration came a mere hour before the deadline, posed by President Trump, to eradicate the Iranian civilization.

Leaders should set realistic goals before they send soldiers to fight. Leaders bear a fundamental responsibility to align political objectives with strategic feasibility before committing their societies to war. Classical strategic theory, most notably articulated by Carl von Clausewitz, insists that war must remain subordinate to rational political ends. When objectives are vague, maximalist, or detached from operational realities, military action risks becoming self-defeating. Unrealistic war aims not only undermine battlefield effectiveness; they corrode morale, weaken societal resilience, and erode public trust

For Netanyahu, Iran is the bogeyman. He believes Iran poses an existential threat to Israel, and he is right. We should be attentive to our enemies, what they say and what they do. When leaders of a significant regional power declare that they wish to wipe Israel off the map and, at the same time, they support terror organisations that are committed to Israel’s destruction and develop ballistic missiles and nuclear power, these should be clear warning signs.

Iran is a powerful country, with a rich history. Its territory is vast, spanning 1.65 million square kilometres, making it the 17th largest country in the world, and it has a population of roughly 90 million people. Iran showed its resilience in its war with Iraq during 1980–1988. In that war, for the first two years, Iraq was winning. Saddam Hussein developed plans for a march into Tehran. But Iran withstood the Iraqi hostilities. The war evolved into a prolonged war of attrition lasting eight years, ultimately ending in 1988 with a United Nations–brokered ceasefire and no decisive victor. The experience entrenched a strategic........

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