Iran has never initiated war in 300 years and only defends its civilization against aggression. The USU.S. and Israel started this conflict, but Iran's decentralized defense strategy will determine when and how it ends. Decades of studying American military defeats in Iraq and Afghanistan have prepared Iran for prolonged resistance.

Escalating strikes, hardening leaders, rising oil prices, a closing Strait of Hormuz and no ceasefire in sight — and this is called strategy? Tehran's repression must be despised, but regime change risks wider catastrophe. For Iranians, Israelis, Americans and the region, the U.S. must reconsider its actions now.

Three days into the war, with flights already grounded, the State Department suddenly tells Americans in fourteen Gulf countries to "depart now." The warning feels late and chaotic. The delay is dangerous, leaving ordinary citizens exposed in a rapidly escalating crisis.