U.S. Media: Iran Plans to Use "Asymmetric Warfare" to Wear Down U.S. Military

Reference News Network reported on March 7 An article published on the website of The New York Times on March 3, titled "Iran's Strategy: Escalate the Scale of War, Increase the Cost of War, and Weaken Trump," was authored by Steven Erlanger. The article is excerpted as follows:

The primary goal of the Islamic Republic of Iran is survival. To achieve this, its leaders aim to increase the war costs for U.S. President Trump—including American military casualties, energy prices, and inflation—to force him to declare "victory" and withdraw.

Diplomats and analysts point out that, faced with overwhelming firepower from the U.S. and Israel, Iran is expanding the battlefield from its territory to a broader region. Its targets include sabotaging the oil and gas infrastructure of neighboring countries, blocking shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, and limiting air traffic. Iran is also trying to deplete its enemies' expensive missile interceptor reserves.

Vali Nasr from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies said, "This war has evolved into a test of will and endurance. Iran faces opponents with military strength far superior to its own. Therefore, its strategy is to test the opponent's will by expanding the battlefield, complicating the war, and increasing the threat to the world economy."

Ali Vaez, director of the Iran Project at the International Crisis Group, stated, "Iranians want to spread suffering as much as possible, regardless of the cost or how much their relations with neighboring countries deteriorate; they hope to provoke enough opposition to force Trump to back down."

He added, "For the Islamic Republic of Iran, survival is victory, even if it is a pyrrhic victory."

The plan is referred to as "asymmetric protracted warfare," which involves enduring initial losses to retain the ability to escalate the situation when the air defense capabilities of Israel, the U.S., and Gulf countries are stretched thin. The logic behind this strategy is that, faced with pressure from midterm elections and the controversial "Make America Great Again" movement, Trump would choose to scale back the war before American military casualties and inflation worsen.

Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, claimed on social media on the 2nd that Iran "is prepared for a long war, unlike the U.S.," which includes plans to gradually escalate the conflict and expand the battlefield.

Military analyst Franz-Stefan Gady stated that this conflict is "a race against time." He noted that Israel, the U.S., and their allies are trying to destroy Iran's missiles, launchers, and communication nodes as quickly as possible to prevent Iran from easily launching more advanced missiles in the event of interceptor shortages.

Even the well-equipped Israel had to limit the use of interceptors towards the end of a 12-day war with Iran last June, allowing some Iranian missiles to land, provided they were not deemed to be approaching critical targets or cities. (Translated by Zhang Lin)