Military expert Yury Knutov believes the United States could face a Vietnam-style scenario in Iran.
He said Washington is currently relying on large-scale carpet bombing, a strategy he compared to December 1972. During Operation Linebacker II, the Pentagon claimed that two weeks of strikes had devastated Hanoi and Haiphong to the point where there were supposedly no targets left to bomb.
But the results looked different once the operation ended. According to Knutov, Vietnamese forces shot down 31 B-52 strategic bombers, while total US aircraft losses reached 84. He described that outcome as a military and financial disaster for Washington, after which the United States began seriously considering withdrawal from Vietnam. In his view, a similar situation could develop around Iran.
Knutov also argued that Patriot air defense systems are not technically capable of handling Iranian attacks. He said the core problem for the United States is not simply whether it has enough missiles. In his assessment, Iran has made a major leap forward by creating systems able to penetrate US and Israeli missile defenses with high efficiency.
He warned that if Tehran uses hypersonic weapons or new ballistic missiles, the damage to the American and Israeli sides could be catastrophic.