Iranian Media Prepares the Public for a “War of Attrition”

Iranian media has increasingly portrayed negotiations as part of the U.S.-Iran conflict rather than an alternative to it. Accordingly, the confrontation has been framed as one that will be measured by endurance, economic pressure, and strategic persistence rather than decisive battlefield victories. The central question, however, is how long the regime in Tehran can sustain what increasingly appears to be an open-ended war of attrition.

• July 10: In an analysis of the trajectory of the war, Tabnak News Agency, which is affiliated with Major General Mohsen Rezaei, the supreme leader’s senior military advisor, wrote:
  • “If we are to sum it up bluntly, the available evidence points less to the end of the conflict than to the consolidation of a protracted regional war of attrition. The Strait of Hormuz is no longer merely a waterway; it has become a theater of economic and military pressure. U.S. bases and those of its allies are no longer simply deployment sites but targets intended to wear down readiness levels and exhaust air and missile defense systems. Doha and other mediation channels are no longer merely venues for negotiation; they have become part of the mechanism for managing the conflict itself. The oil market no longer responds solely to supply and demand but prices the intensity of the war on a daily basis. And the war itself is no longer measured simply by the number of missiles fired but by the persistence of anxiety, cost of maintaining military readiness, recurring disruptions, and prolongation of strategic uncertainty.”
  • “For that reason, if we ask today whether the conflict between Iran and the United States has entered a phase of protracted regional attrition, the cautious – but straightforward – answer is yes, at least the available indicators point clearly in that direction. Perhaps neither side is yet willing to call it a long-term war. Perhaps each side still hopes that another round of negotiations or a carefully calibrated military strike will turn the tide. But the reality on the ground is that the conflict has moved beyond the Persian Gulf and is now unfolding on much deeper levels: in insurance premiums and oil tanker operations, radar systems and military bases, negotiating rooms and oil price charts, maritime security warnings, and the daily calculations of military commanders and political leaders. This is no longer merely a series of isolated exchanges of blows. More than anything, it resembles the beginning of a prolonged war of attrition – a phase in which the flames of conflict may burn less intensely on some days but have by no means been extinguished.”

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