By: Sorcha Faal, and as reported to her Western Subscribers
A forewarning new Security Council (SC) report circulating in the Kremlin today first noting President Donald Trump declared about Iran during his State of the Union address on Tuesday evening: “I will never allow the world’s number one sponsor of terror to have a nuclear weapon”, says this declaration followed his top official Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard informing the United States Congress during under oath testimony “The intelligence community continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon and Supreme Leader Khamenei has not authorized the nuclear weapons program he suspended in 2003”, and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian factually stated yesterday: “When the religious leader explicitly states that we will not pursue nuclear weapons, this is a position rooted in theological and jurisprudential beliefs, not a political tactic that can be changed”.
Ahead of the meeting between the United States and Iran in Geneva today to discuss the non-existent Iranian nuclear weapons program, this report notes, Iranian President Pezeshkian observed: “We are continuing the process under the guidance of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei so that we can move beyond this neither war nor peace situation”—an observation joined by former top United Nations nuclear weapons official Mohamed ElBaradei warning: “The United States is intensifying the drumbeat of war against Iran…All wars, including wars of choice, have horrific costs…That is the reason for the restraints and limitations established by international norms”.
Among the most influential publications read daily by all top American military officials, this report continues, is The War Zone, whose world-renowned military strategist founder Tyler Rogoway just released his open letter “The Massive Questions Surrounding A Major American Air War Against Iran”, wherein he assessed:
So, here we are, once again.
The United States has flooded the Middle East with combat capabilities. A massive investment has already been made in airframe hours, manpower, and naval resources in preparation for what could be the biggest initial military action America has taken in more than 20 years.
Such an operation is not without absolutely massive risks. Iran has prepared for this day for many decades, and so many questions remain outstanding. Glaring ones. Ones that impact the globe and especially those tasked with fighting what could very well be a bloody war that has, at least at this time, highly opaque goals.
What Is The Goal?
This is the biggest unknown. What are we getting into here?
Aside from the possibility that this is a giant feint — a hammer and anvil tactic to force a diplomatic outcome — there have to be clear military goals.
Would an air campaign be focused on destroying Iran’s nuclear program alone? There are limitations to achieving that goal with airpower. Israel, too, is well aware of this. Is this goal to be paired with absolutely neutering Iran’s military-industrial base, along with its existing combat capabilities? That would seem more likely, but doing so would require a much larger, sustained operation.
We don’t know the intelligence or what is going on clandestinely to see that such a risky operation has any chance of long-term success. Without a solid plan, such a move would seem to only invite more risk.
And once again, obtaining this level of transformation largely via airpower is a highly questionable proposition, at best.
There is absolutely no appetite domestically to engage in another ground war in the Middle East, so that option is a non-starter, which is a good thing, as America’s track record in this regard is terrible.
Real Dangers
We have not seen modern Iran fight for its very life against the United States or even Israel. On paper, Iran can do immense damage to the region.
Yes, it can close and mine the Strait of Hormuz, causing massive repercussions that could last long after the war ends. This is a well-understood danger.
But above even that, Iran has an absolutely huge inventory of standoff weapons — specifically cruise missiles, long-range one-way attack drones, and most importantly, ballistic missiles.
On the latter, there is a broad misconception that Israel wiped out Iran’s ballistic missile capabilities. This couldn’t be further from the truth.
To make this clear, Iran’s far more plentiful short-range ballistic missiles that threaten American bases in Gulf Arab allied states were not heavily targeted. The same can be said for the shorter-range drones and cruise missiles.
So no, these capabilities were not knocked out by any means, and they are also by far the easiest for Iran to disperse and hide.
This makes hunting for them from the air extremely problematic. This is especially true when Iran enters into a combat state, where it distributes these missiles, which are largely loaded onto common truck platforms, into population centers and hidden under pretty much anything. They can also shoot and scoot much faster than their long-range counterparts.
With all of America’s intelligence capabilities, finding and destroying these weapons from the air will be extremely challenging.
Iran’s shorter-range standoff weapons number in the thousands. They have the ability to saturate the best defenses on earth and lay waste to prized targets across the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea, and deeper into allied Arab nations.
This not only makes nearby basing of U.S. aircraft and personnel problematic, but it greatly increases the cost of any war the United States could execute against Iran.
We have seen what it took to defend against just one volley of Iranian short-range ballistic missiles. It resulted in the largest volley of Patriot interceptors in history. Even that defensive action wasn’t entirely successful at rebuffing the attack, let alone repeated ones that would include layers of drones, as well as cruise and ballistic missiles.
Iran knows full well where American aircraft are currently based, and they will throw everything they have at these sites.
This includes America’s sprawling airbase in Jordan that is packed with tactical airpower. They know what defenses are there and have an understanding of what it will take to overwhelm them if they get the chance to do so.
So the idea that we could not see mass losses of aircraft and other materiel, and even lives, on the ground, even when striking from afar, is not reality.
Why Now?
In the end, these are the fundamental questions Trump has to be asking himself and his aides: Is going to war with Iran really worth the risks, both the known ones and unknown ones, and what is the goal in doing so? Is that goal readily attainable and at what cost?
These questions also bleed directly into the political arena.
Trump claimed to be the President that would get America out of wars, not start them, and especially ones that seem like they could spiral out of control relatively easily, resulting in much longer-term commitments.
Above all else, the question has to be asked, why now? What has prompted the idea of declaring war on Iran at this moment?
In addition, Trump has declared repeatedly that he destroyed Iran’s nuclear program after the B-2 strikes in June. So why, just eight months after that action took place, is the United States about to go all-in against Iran over its nuclear program?
There is obviously much the public doesn’t know, but the risk-reward equation seems like a uniquely puzzling one with this crisis, at least at this time.
As exhaustively documented by world-renowned retired CIA analyst Larry Johnson, this report details, President Trump has positioned the bulk of American military forces said ready to strike Iran behind the impenetrable wall erected by all Middle East nations, that won’t allow American planes to use their airspace to attack Iran—this week it saw President Trump deploying F-22 stealth fighter jets to an Israeli Air Force base in southern Israel and it was revealed: “The USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier,arrived off Israel’s coast and docked in Haifa on Monday”—but it remains a mystery as to why President Trump has positioned American military forces to attack Israel.
Along with President Trump seeming to position American military forces to attack Israel, as there is no way they can be used to attack Iran, this report notes, his top media advisor Tucker Carlson just released his chilling video “Israel’s Sinister Agenda to Use the U.S. Military to Defy Trump’s Plan for Peace”—and world-renowned Brazilian geopolitical expert Pepe Escobar just released his documentary “The Golden Corridor” explaining the real reason why the socialist Western colonial powers want to destroy Iran.
With oil prices now hovering near a seven-month high due to speculation about a potential United States military action against Iran, this report concludes, it was warned today: “A full-blown war between the United States and Iran could send oil prices soaring and cause an economic downturn”—and joining an economic downturn that will crush his Republican Party in the midterm elections should he attack Iran, today President Trump faced the grim news: “US national debt will surge to 140% of GDP within five years, the International Monetary Fund has warned, urging Washington to slash its fiscal deficit to rein in outsized trade and current account gaps…The US national debt has swelled to more than $38 trillion, and the fiscal shortfall is deepening, data shows…It represents a $2.25 trillion increase over the past year, with debt projected to hit $39 trillion by April”.
Note
Some words and or phrases appearing in quotes in this report are English language approximations of Russian words/phrases having no exact counterpart.
<
EU and US all rights reserved. Permission to use this report in its entirety is granted under the condition it is linked to its original source at WhatDoesItMean.Com. Freebase content licensed under CC-BY and GFDL.
What Does It Mean, February 26, 2026
Repost: AF Combat Vet F-16 Pilot: What it Means to Strike Iran | Lt Col Daniel Davis &a John Waters
Reacties
Repost: Col Douglas Macgregor: GET READY, Iran Will Not Fall Like a House of Cards
Reacties
Russia Could Use Nukes if UK and France Give Ukraine Atomic Weapons
Published February 24, 2026
Reacties
Russia Could Use Nukes if UK and France Give Ukraine Atomic Weapons
Published February 25, 2026
Reacties
BREAKING NEWS | Thomas Massie Explodes on DOJ over Epstein Handling, Names People He Wants Prosecuted
Published February 24, 2026
Reacties
Ukraine Russia War Enters the Fifth Year | Andrei Martyanov & Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Davis
Published February 24, 2026
Reacties
Colonel Douglas Macgregor, It ALL POINTS to WAR, No Chance for Agreement with IRAN
Published 22 feb 2026
** NEW MERCH **
Jackets and Sweat Shirts, Thermo Mugs!!
Daniel Davis Deep Dive Merch
Etsy Store https://www.etsy.com/shop/DanielDavisDeepDive
Colonel Douglas Macgregor Argues There is Virtually No Chance of A Negotiated Agreement with Iran because US Demands, Framed As Aligned with Israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu, Are Non Negotiable. He Claims the Conflict is Driven Less by Territory and More by Financial and Geo Political Dominance, and Believes War is Increasingly Likely.
He Says Iran sStrategy Would Be to Endure and Outlast the US, Surviving Long Enough to Impose Costs without Collapsing. Unlike Limited Engagements, Such As with the Houthis or Venezuela, He Argues A Conflict with Iran Would Be Far More Difficult and Unpredictable.
Referencing Comments by Retired General Jack Keane, the Discussion CharacterizesUSDiplomacy As Offering an “Olive Branch” that is Effectively an Ultimatum. The Speakers Dispute Claims that Iran is Actively Pursuing Nuclear Weapons, Asserting that Public Evidence Does Not Show an Active Weapons Program, and Argue that Narratives in Washington Are Shaped More by Politics than Facts.
Plaats een reactie