i agree with this post except the bold. Iran will have a really hard time reproducing planes, large ships, building missile launch platforms, etc. But missiles as they build them aren't exactly complicated, they dont make top notch smart missiles, they make point and shoot tubes with only minor guidance.
and the current landscape helps that a LOT. look at the main targets, Tel Aviv, Straight of Hormuz ships, regional energy targets, and US military bases. The only thing that really requires precision is ships in the straight, and currently there is no travel there. Tel Aviv they can just shell indiscriminately, same for bases, same for large energy plants. Launch 5 missiles at a gas plant and hope 1 hits, if it does, the whole plant is shut down.
rest assured they're making missiles now, they've given up all hopes of naval battles and shifted to small vehicles, they have given total air superiority to US/Israel. but they will continue to launch missiles at a faster rate than we can intercept them, and they'll use drone attacks as well. They're a porcupine now, we can only change the dynamic with extreme force. Either we blow up the porcupine or we get stung by it's quills.
Iran can block the Straight of Hormuz indefinitely. It does not even need to sink a single ship. The reality is that trust has been broken and the fear of being sunk outweighs everything. The economic consequences are here for the short term (months-years is my definition of short term). A minor clarification - the US and Israel are the aggressors here, and, using your metaphor, if you leave the porcupine alone you wont get stung, but if you do get stung its your own fault for trying to kill the porcupine. You went into his house, killed mammy and daddy and killed the babies. Pretty sure the remaining sons are not happy. Iran is a problematic regime, but I have not seen anything by the US or Israel to credibly change its outlook on the world, in fact I would say the war on Iran is similar to everywhere the US goes - the US is undermining the world's trust in it.
There are several scenario's at this point:
1. In the next 3-4 weeks the US says jobs done and stops bombing
2. The US continues to bomb Iran all year
3. The US sends troops, 300,000+ to invade Iran
Options 2 and 3 do not enable Trump to invade Cuba this year, but it can be quite difficult to extricate from an active war. Iran is likely to try to sting the US where it hurts - money/oil, and if the US continues to escalate then all bets are off.
Understand I am not talking about how we got here re: the 1950's Iran, the Shah, the Proxies around Israel, Oct 7th, I am looking at what is in front of me and making an assessment based on what is happening in the last couple of weeks.
This post was edited by ferdia on Mar 18 2026 10:11am