A casual perusal of empires that came up, and also went down, during the last twentyfive centuries shows the fame of the Persians and their leaders. Persians, presently mostly the Iranians, are a community of people who stood firm on their empire, language, religion and culture; indeed each of them changed many times; and yet, their country did not ever break. They are like the Chinese or the Indians.
The American president stated, before the attack started on 28 February 2026 that Iran continuously cursed the US and that 241 Americans were killed in Beirut in 1983 with the support of Iran. In addition, he added, that the Iranians took over the American embassy immediately after the Islamic revolution. So, such deep rooted revengeful thoughts are inherent in the statement of the seeker of Nobel Prize for peace who supported the killing of the most respected person in a nation and slaughtered more than one hundred children on a single day.
The US called Iran a terrorist state because of Iran’s support for several Shiya militant groups, hardly knowing that even if Iran does not support them, the Houthis of Yemen or the Alawites of Syria, will still fight the US and their supporters like Israel. The fact that the US did not attack Iran till recently may be partly due to the support Iran enjoyed from the militant groups in countries like Syria, Yemen, Iraq and Lebanon. These may not fight with the US directly, but they can still use terrorism against the mighty nation.
The Persian civilisation of the Achaemenid Empire from 550 to 330 BCE which fought Egypt and Greece is often regarded indomitable. Only Alexander the Great tried to break their spirit. Later, the Persians fought the Romans for four hundred years. During the Islamic years, they also fought the Arabs and the Ottoman Empire. Something special to be noted is that despite changes in language, culture and to some extent religion, Iran’s borders did not change.
The United States tried several times to defeat Iran. In 1990, during the first Gulf War, the US had plans to take over Iran. However, Iran maintains close connections with China and Russia, and therefore the US was not powerful enough to execute their plans. Even today, Iran is the only defiant country in west Asia standing against the US imperial plans. No doubt, the US succeeded in overthrowing the Syrian dispensation, taking almost twelve years. They also succeeded in overpowering a democratic republic, Venezuela, even handcuffed the president of the republic and took him prisoner. US backed efforts weakened Hezbollah and Hamas, and while the conflict in Palestine caused enormous destruction with more than seventy thousand deaths and never repairable physical damages. These developments have strengthened the confidence of the US, supported by Israel, to make direct attacks on Iran, the only opponent in West Asia. Every time the US attacked any other country, they destroyed it, politically, socially and economically. However, it did not happen in Iran till now.
The developments leading to the present West Asia war are interesting for anyone who seeks reasons for wars. The foreign minister of Oman, who was mediating, stated on 27 February 2026 that Iran and the US would reach a resolution. The sudden and unexpected attack happened on 28 February 2026. What is to be specially reckoned is the killing of the ultimate authority and a venerated religious leader of the country with his entire family and over a hundred school children, both defenceless indeed at that time. Both are war crimes as per the UN charter.
What both the leaders of US and Israel stated after the twelve day war in June 2025 has to be noted here. Trump stated that the nuclear arsenal of Iran was ‘obliterated’. Netanyahu stated that it was a ‘historic’ win. However, Iran stood firm with their strong resolve to face the enemy, in sharp contrast to other West Asian countries which hosted American military bases or reconciled with Israel on several fronts through agreements of cooperation. Despite the fact that Israel has annexed territories of Lebanon, Syria and Palestine, there is no United Nations or any other organisation to force Israel to return these areas.
Iran is the only country that refuses to bow in front of the arrogant postures of the United States and its tail, Israel. Iranians are a determined community of people to stand against a mighty nation supported by another mighty element in their neighbourhood. Saddam Hussain of Iraq is gone, Muammar Gaddafi of Lybia is gone, Bashar Asad of Syria is gone, Hezbollah and Hamas are weak. Other smaller countries like UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Muscat have surrendered under the pressure of the US and Israel. Iran is the last revisionist country who did not duck under even in the face of very powerful attacks. An unethical appeal was made by Trump asking the Iranians to take over the government, something unacceptable from the head of a state to the people of another state. What the US desires is a regime change by which it could get the country under its control for economic exploitation as they did in other countries like Nicaragua or Venezuela. No doubt, thus, Iran faces an existential threat; all the same, Iran’s conventional military strength may not be easily broken.
A prolonged conflict can exhaust the arms and ammunition that Iran possesses. Yet, it may still be difficult to make them surrender even through a regime change, which is not easy. As one has seen that even after the very cruel act of destroying the entire family of the leader, Iran as a nation administers itself and fights against the might of the US and Israel. The mettle of the nation, undaunting and unflinching nature of the Persians, can easily be detected in the present day Iranians. What is written here provides a historical and political analysis of Persian, Iranian resilience against a foreign intervention, with a special reference to the 2026 conflict involving the United States and Israel.