By Nearly Every Metric, the U.S. Is Losing the Iran War
- Publisher
- Foreign Policy
- Published
- 2026-09-17
- Type
- analysis
- Link
- https://foreignpolicy.com/2026/09/17/trump-united-states-losing-iran-war/
- Last checked
- 2026-10-26
- Rights
- reference only — we link and describe; we do not republish the text.
Cited in
-
Defense and Security
Everyone said this would happen: 50 years of warnings that Iran would close Hormuz and that bombs alone could not end its program
The Shah said Iran could close Hormuz in 1972; Iran threatened it in 1983, 1984, 2011, 2018 and 2025; a 2012 bipartisan study said strikes buy four years at most and invite retaliation at the strait. By September 2026 the US was losing.