BEIJING, April 3. /TASS/. Even after the acute phase of the US-Israel conflict with Iran ends, the confrontation could shift into a long-term information and cognitive war, Shu Meng, an expert at the Middle East Studies Institute of Shanghai International Studies University, told TASS.
"I believe that the war is currently at a certain stalemate. Despite the fact that the US and Israel possess significant combined forces, Iran currently controls the Strait of Hormuz, which could significantly impact the US, Israel, as well as the global energy market and supply chains. In this situation, the US also understands that overthrowing the Iranian regime in the short term is not an easy task," the expert said, adding that, against this backdrop, US President Donald Trump’s desire to end the conflict seems entirely logical.
According to Shu Meng, even if the current large-scale confrontation ends, the war could later continue in other, more covert or protracted forms. "Iranian control of the Strait of Hormuz is highly unacceptable to the US. Such a confrontation is unlikely to end completely, so I believe the war will likely continue in the future through information, cognitive, and other forms of long-term warfare," the expert argued.
The United States and Israel launched a military operation against Iran on February 28. Major Iranian cities, including Tehran, were struck. The White House justified the attack by citing alleged missile and nuclear threats from Iran. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced a retaliatory operation, targeting sites in Israel. US targets in Bahrain, Jordan, Iraq, Qatar, Kuwait, the UAE, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Syria were also hit. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and some other key Iranian leaders were killed in the joint US-Israeli attack.