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You are here: Home / Foreign Affairs / Iran’s Theory of Victory

Iran’s Theory of Victory

July 15, 2026 at 1:00 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

War on the Rocks: “While the United States and Israel waged a war they believed would be defined by military force, Iran had a theory of victory its adversaries never understood: a regime built for survival, manipulating global perception and economic levers, and converting military inferiority into geopolitical leverage. The result was a fragile ceasefire during which Tehran negotiated from a position of greater leverage than it held before the war began…”

“Iran fought a different war than the one it was offered, and it prepared to fight that war for twenty years. The doctrine behind it has a name.”

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Filed Under: Foreign Affairs, National Security

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About Political Wire

Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.

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