Note on the Iran War, and announcement that ‘Perspectives’ now has a podcast that you can follow on Apple, Spotify, Amazon, Audible, etc.

‘Perspectives: A Podcast on Iran’

The podcast went live last week. Each episode is 3–5 minutes in a two-person conversational format that analyzes points in my essays on Perspectives. This format allows listeners to grasp key points, and if interested, to visit my website to read the essay and review the evidence.

Follow the ‘Perspectives’ Podcast at:

Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and Audible, Spotify, Pocket Casts, and Podcast Index

Special Podcasts

Special episodes are longer; for example, where I discuss my monographs with interviewers. A special that will be live 14–15 August commemorates the fifth anniversary of the US defeat in Afghanistan (15 August 2021). This is a twenty-minute discussion analyzing my ‘notorious’ article published by Small Wars & Insurgencies in a special edition on counterinsurgency. The article predicted ‘strategic defeat’ for the United States in Afghanistan, which came to pass on 15 August 2021, when the Taliban captured Kabul. The article, based on assessments made by me in 2009–10, was submitted to the editors on 4 November 2012, peer-reviewed and accepted on 4 May 2013, and published 28 May 2014.

This to say that I predicted the defeat of the US-led adventure long before it became obvious, just as I have predicted the strategic defeat of the US-Israel adventure in Iran. I became an ‘enemy’ of CENTCOM and the US Government for my criticisms of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq; and for an essay critical of Saudi Arabia, “Saudi Arabia, Wahhabis, and the Taliban of Afghanistan: ‘Puritanical Reform’ as a ‘Revolutionary War’ program.”

Strategic defeat in Afghanistan is inevitable…the war was lost before the ‘Afghan Surge’ was put in place.

—Shivan Mahendrarajah—

The twenty-minute Persian-language version of the analysis will not be distributed by podcast outlets. It will only be available at the ‘Podcasts’ page of the website. Please check the Podcasts page when you visit the Posts page to read essays.

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Iran War SITREP

We are back to the Sitzkrieg. Trump has no idea how to end the war in a manner where he can claim victory. The US military is leaking like a colander that it is out of offensive and defensive weapons. They are doing this in order to avoid an escalation with Iran that will devastate the US Armed Forces. JCS Chair General Dan Caine wants an ‘off-ramp,’ but Admiral Brad Cooper, head of CENTCOM, wants to escalate. Cooper, like his predecessor, Gen. Michael Kurilla, is snuggling under the covers with ‘our friends, the Israelis.’ Cooper is being primed by FDD, the Israeli think-tank in Washington, DC. He is pushing a ‘two-week plan to escalate strikes in Iran.’

Iran is aware that it will only secure sanctions relief and reparations if it has the US ‘over a barrel’ (pun intended). On 9 August, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei appointed retired IRGC general Mohsen Rezaee as his representative to, and the Secretary of, Iran’s Supreme National Security Council. Rezaee advocates a ‘language of force’ in dealing with the US. We may witness a situation where US-Israeli ‘hardliners’ and Iranian ‘hardliners’ are in sync.

Supreme National Security Council

On 8 August 2026, Iran’s Supreme National Security Council issued the following statement, which makes it difficult for Trump to ‘declare victory’ and skedaddle. It also makes renewed military confrontation likely.

Until America corrects its behavior, the Strait of Hormuz will not be opened.

Correcting behavior means:

1. Never threaten Iran with any language nor insult the sanctities of this nation.

2. End the war and aggression against Iran and its allies in Lebanon, Palestine, Yemen, and Iraq permanently.

3. Lift the naval blockade and withdraw U.S. naval and air forces from the area surrounding Iran.

4. Pay the damages for the two aggressive wars imposed against Iran.

5. Lift the cruel and illegal sanctions against the Iranian nation.

6. Release the frozen and stolen assets of the Iranian people unconditionally.

These are the demands of the Iranian people who have been relentlessly present in the squares and streets for 160 days. The Supreme National Security Council will never back down; whether in war or in negotiations.

Mohsen Rezaee

Rezaee is known for ‘hardline’ views and for occasionally uttering ‘controversial’ statements. He was the first Commander-in-Chief of IRGC (1981–1997), which included almost the entirety of the Iran-Iraq war (1980–88). He ran as a conservative Presidential candidate in 2009, 2013, and 2021, losing each time.

Rezaee is a staunch supporter of the Islamic Revolution and a loyal ally of Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei. But as someone who has followed IRGC and Rezaee, what I admire about him is his military genius. In one TV interview (not available on YT), he explained strategy succinctly and cleverly. American generals, on the other hand, have never been able to argue coherent strategy, from the Korean War to the Iran War. They confuse ‘strategy’ and ‘tactics,’ for e.g., ‘our strategy for Afghanistan,’ when they mean the ‘tactics we are using against the Taliban.’

Fasten seat belts and ensure that your air bags have been serviced. In the meantime, enjoy this interview that CNN conducted in June 2026 with Mohsen Rezaee.