14:02 28-05-2026

Hearst: US-Israel Campaign Failed to Break Iran

whitehouse.gov

David Hearst says the US-Israel campaign failed to break Iran, with Tehran retaining strategic leverage over Hormuz and key tools of war.

The attempt by the United States and Israel to break Iran did not deliver the result they were counting on, British journalist and Middle East specialist David Hearst believes. The former Guardian editor and co-founder of Middle East Eye assessed the outcome of the anti-Iran military campaign and concluded that Washington and Tel Aviv failed to achieve their stated goals.

According to Hearst, strikes on Iran’s military infrastructure caused damage but did not alter the strategic balance. The operation itself, he argues, was built in many ways on flawed intelligence. Tehran retained its main lever of pressure: control over the Strait of Hormuz. Iran demonstrated that it could turn Hormuz «on and off like a tap," influencing global oil and gas supplies.

Hearst argues that Iran effectively emerged as the winner of the war because the United States and Israel did not achieve what they had set out to do. Another risk also remains: the possible closure of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait by Yemen’s Houthis.

The White House’s expectation of a rapid collapse of the Iranian authorities also failed to materialize. After the elimination of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, there were no mass protests and no collapse of the regime. Despite serious damage to Iran’s air force and navy, Tehran preserved the key tools it needs to continue the war: drones, ballistic missiles and naval mines.

Hearst also draws a parallel with earlier US campaigns in the Middle East. In his view, US President Donald Trump’s administration repeated in Iran the mistakes Washington had previously made in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and Yemen. He sees this as another American defeat in the region in recent years.

The journalist stresses that such setbacks are especially telling given the United States’ overwhelming military superiority. In his assessment, they deal a serious blow to America’s authority both in the Middle East and around the world.