[News] Burning America’s Cards One by One: What is Iran’s Strategy?

[Anti-Imperialist News]

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Burning America’s Cards One by One: What is Iran’s Strategy? – AnalysisAugust
17, 2026
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Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei. (Photo: Iranian media. Design: PC)

*By Robert Inlakesh
<https://www.palestinechronicle.com/writers/robert-inlakesh>*

Iran is systematically targeting US regional assets and alliances,
tightening pressure as Washington confronts mounting military, logistical
and political strains.

While the US Trump administration insists that the very much closed Strait
of Hormuz is in fact open and grapples with domestic pushback against his
war losses, Iran has been busy pursuing a military strategy that is placing
a chokehold on their opposition.

Although the ongoing regional war has been experiencing a lull in direct
confrontations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the US-Israeli
alliance, a series of other fronts have become the focus of Tehran’s recent
efforts.

Contrary to what you would be led to believe by the corporate media, Iran’s
ballistic missile and drone fire has not ceased. Instead, officials
belonging to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) have made it
clear that there is no ceasefire in effect and that their operations are
therefore being carried out in a coordinated fashion.

One of the fronts Iran has chosen to keep open is northern Iraq, where it
has consistently launched short-range ballistic missiles and drone waves,
targeting headquarters, hideouts, bases and weapons depots belonging to
Kurdish-Iranian opposition factions backed by the United States. Powerful
blasts are being reported on a near-daily basis in Suleimaniyeh and Erbil,
with footage often confirming direct impacts on strategic targets.

US President Donald Trump has been vocal since the first weeks of the war
on Iran, which began on February 28 of this year, that he was expecting
action from his Kurdish allies that he armed during the riots in Iran a
month prior. Leaked reports in the American press suggested that a plan was
being drawn up that would see the use of these Kurdish militant groups to
invade the Iranian mainland, triggering a process that would – in their
minds – lead to the disintegration of the Islamic Republic.

A Kurdish breakaway State project was one major card that the US and Israel
– which was revealed to have established bases in Iraqi Kurdistan – were
hoping to play against Tehran. The IRGC and Iranian Regular Army have not
let that go, choosing to launch persistent strikes and even deploy special
forces units to carry out operations on the ground against these groups.

Meanwhile, Iran’s Yemeni allies have mobilized their forces and are
committing major offensive operations against their Saudi-backed
opposition. They have also imposed an unprecedented equation on Saudi
Arabia, where they are now implementing a counter-blockade that places a
further chokehold on global oil supplies, while striking Saudi oil
facilities in retaliation to violations of Yemeni airspace alone.

The threats of Iraqi factions to intervene in Syria, if the leadership in
Damascus follows Trump’s orders to attack Lebanon, combined with reports
that Iran will launch strikes on targets belonging to the Syrian regime,
also appear to be an effort to prevent this step from taking place.

In the Strait of Hormuz, the IRGC Navy continues to take out tankers with
drones and missiles if they choose to attempt to break the blockade with US
coordination. When this occurs, US Central Command refrains from even
making regular comments, a far cry from its previous threats to bomb
Iranian civilian infrastructure in retaliation for every tanker struck.

As this has all been happening, the US is scrambling to replace its USS
Abraham Lincoln Aircraft Carrier, after reports emerge that chaos is
erupting on board. The vessel has been deployed for over 9 months, now
facing a food shortage that has impacted around 5,000 sailors. The
situation is so bad that some reports even indicated that the fist fights
broke out on the ship, deaths have occurred, and that some service members
either attempted or were considering suicide.

Recent reports also indicate that Iran has destroyed at least 45 US MQ-9
Reaper Drones, costing roughly $1.3 billion in total; this is on top of the
US military expending most of its long-range precision missiles and
depleting 80% of its THAAD interceptor stockpile.

The Israelis are currently refusing to budge when it comes to Lebanon, Gaza
and Syria, while escalating their attacks on Palestinians in the occupied
West Bank, fronts that could all escalate very quickly and drain more
resources.

Iran has demonstrated that it is far from depleting its weapons stockpiles
and even Israeli intelligence estimates assess that it has rapidly
recovered from the 40-day war period. What has become clear is that the US
President has to make a choice sooner or later: either he signs what will
effectively be a surrender agreement and pushes back against the Israel
Lobby, or he decides to try an all-out war one last time.

*(The Palestine Chronicle)*


*– Robert Inlakesh is a journalist, writer, and documentary filmmaker. He
focuses on the Middle East, specializing in Palestine. He contributed this
article to The Palestine Chronicle. *
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