The U.S. has awesome power, both military and economic. When confronting Iran, President Donald Trump, the Commander-in-Chief of the world’s mightiest superpower, no doubt feels confident of a swift and successful outcome of any diplomatic negotiations or military conflict.
That the U.S. has the technical ability to defeat Iran economically, diplomatically, and militarily is beyond dispute. Its limitation is in its perception, its perspective, and its inability to understand the enemy with which it is dealing.
The ancient Persians invented two great things which they gave to the world:
The first is the bazaar, from the Persian bāzār; a marketplace, a place of complete free-market trading, where anyone can buy or sell anything at any price the buyer and seller both agree to.
It was the Persians who invented this absolute free-for-all, in which the sole decider of the price is the hagglers’ skill in negotiating the price. President Trump may be a great businessman - but it was the Persians who invented and perfected the art of the deal.
The best advice for Trump, for the U.S., and indeed for anyone who wants to defeat Iran is: Don’t try to do it at the negotiating table. You’ll lose, they’ll win. The Iranians were already perfecting the art of negotiating when Charlemagne was in diapers. They’ll defeat anyone and everyone at the negotiating table.
The second great Persian invention was the game of chess. Two identical armies face each other, playing according to well-defined rules. Neither side has any advantage in numbers, terrain, weaponry, or any other factor that occurs in real-life war. The sole deciding factor is the skill of each player.
In chess there is one way, and one way only, to defeat the opponent: Checkmate. From the Persian shāh māt, “the king is dead".
As long as the king lives, he is undefeated. It matters not how much damage his side has absorbed, it matters not how few of his soldiers live or how little of his infrastructure remains intact. As long as the king lives, he is undefeated. Even if the king is the sole player left on the chessboard, he remains defiantly undefeated.
Contrariwise, if the king is killed without any damage to any other pieces, he has lost the game. Chess players are familiar with the Scholar’s Checkmate, also known as the four-move checkmate; mat sandlarim, or “shoemakers’ checkmate" in Hebrew (also in several other languages).
Inflicting no damage whatsoever on the enemy other than surgically killing the king - but a defeat just as resounding.
Of course the Islamic Republic of Iran has no king. It has instead its Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamena’ei. As long he lives, he remains undefeated. Regardless of how many Iranians may be killed in conflict, regardless of how much Iranian infrastructure maybe be destroyed - as long as Khamena’ei remains alive, no enemy has won.
This is a game of real-life chess. Khamena’ei will defeated solely when an enemy will declare:
Checkmate, shāh māt, the king is dead.