John Mearsheimer, one of the most widely respected international relations theorists, says the United States are not winning against Iran. "What message are we sending? We’re sending a message that we’re a bunch of fools. We started a war. We can’t win", he said on Sunday.
In an interview with Tom Switzer, Mearsheimer emphasised that the original objective of the campaign, “to achieve a regime change in Iran,” has failed. “The Israelis and the US were looking for a quick and decisive victory,” Mearsheimer said, noting that the expectation of a rapid outcome was unrealistic against Iran’s asymmetric strategy. On this, he pointed out: “Iran does not need a navy; all it needs is missiles to target whom it wants.”
“We are bombing and killing civilians. We had this horrendous episode at the start of the war, where a Tomahawk missile launched by the United States, I think, accidentally hit a girls’ school and killed over 170 young girls. Furthermore, we’re going after cultural sites — some of the most important historical and cultural sites in Iran — and destroying them. It’s mainly the Israelis, of course, who are doing this, which is exactly what you would expect from them given their barbaric behaviour in Gaza,” he added
Mearsheimer also cited criticism from the Financial Times, typically sympathetic to the US: “FT is saying we had no objective, no clear objective. We didn’t have the required military forces to achieve any of the objectives that we were floating, and we had no plan. That’s what they say, and of course, they’re correct.”
Looking at regional ramifications, Mearsheimer warned that Saudi Arabia could pursue nuclear weapons. “Saudi Arabia once said if Iran gets nuclear weapons, we will too,” he noted. He also recalled Riyadh’s role in financing Pakistan to build a bomb and speculated: “There were speculations that Pakistan might help Iran or Saudi Arabia acquire nuclear weapons.” He also talked about the growing concern of new alliances in the region, including Pakistan.
He further highlighted a current debate in mainstream media: “Israel is running out of defensive missiles,” signalling vulnerabilities in the region’s security architecture.