Last Year’s Attacks on Iran Showed American Capabilities Are Impressive – but Also Fragile

U.S. military operations have degraded Iranian capabilities, but they have not altered Tehran's belief that it can outlast Washington or continue threatening neighboring Arab states and commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. A coordinated revenue-denial campaign across five principal channels, beginning with Kharg Island's loading infrastructure, is more likely to produce a verifiable agreement than continued attrition alone. Although the administration has adopted important components of that strategy, the revenue channels that finance Iran's endurance remain substantially open.