Strategic success in the Iran war: What Israel and the US achieved together - opinion

This opinion piece from the Jerusalem Post argues forcefully that the recent war against Iran, conducted jointly by the US and Israel, has been a strategic success. The author, David M. Weinberg, contends that the operations achieved their core objectives: halting Iran's nuclear ambitions and degrading its ballistic missile program, threats that loomed large over Israel, Arab states, and Western interests.

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Operations Epic Fury and Roaring Lion have achieved their core strategic objectives: halting Iran’s advance toward nuclear weapons capability and significantly degrading its ballistic missile program – both of which posed a significant threat to Israel, Arab states, and Western interests.

Weinberg dismisses criticisms labeling the war as reckless adventurism, instead highlighting the 'clear and present danger' posed by Iran prior to the conflict. He cites Iran's near-weapons-grade enriched uranium, its prolific ballistic missile production, and its efforts to harden nuclear facilities as justifications for the military action.

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It is dishonest to deny this. It is politically jaundiced to allege that the war was nothing more than reckless adventurism and to call it a slam-dunk failure.

The article details the extensive scope of the joint military effort, including over 15,000 air strikes. These strikes are described as having eviscerated Iranian air defenses, crippled its naval and air forces, destroyed missile infrastructure, and eliminated key scientists and leaders. The author asserts that even without recovering all enriched uranium, Iran's nuclear manufacturing chain has been sufficiently hit to prevent bomb production.

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In a historic joint military effort involving over 15,000 air strikes over the past six weeks, the US and Israeli air forces eviscerated Iranian air defenses, wrecked the Iranian navy and air force, destroyed Iranian missile launchers, stockpiles, and manufacturing sites, smashed Iranian plants and energy facilities that fed the nuclear and ballistic missile industries, assassinated senior scientists critical to the nuclear and missile industries, eliminated army commanders and leaders of internal repression forces by the thousands, and decapitated the radical clerical leadership that provided genocidal validation for Iran’s hegemonic advances.

From an Israeli perspective, this narrative of strategic success is crucial. It frames the war not as an act of aggression, but as a necessary defensive measure that has enhanced regional security. The piece emphasizes the degradation of Iran's military and economic capabilities, including targeting dual-use infrastructure and maintaining the blockade on the Strait of Hormuz, thereby isolating Iran financially and diplomatically. The article positions the US-Israeli alliance as effective in neutralizing a significant regional threat.

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The war also deepened the economic pit in which Iran is mired. The US and Israel targeted significant dual-use infrastructure, including petrochemical processing facilities and steel production plants that collectively account for 15% of Iran’s total GDP and over 60% of its non-oil industrial output.