Former minister: US, Israel have lost their aura of invincibility

TEHRAN — The United States and Israel have lost their aura and myth of invincibility, Iranian official Hossein Dehghan said, arguing that the recent war had demonstrated the limits of Washington and its allies in providing security for themselves or others.

Dehghan, former defense minister and the current head of Iran’s Mostazafan Foundation, made the remarks in an interview with Mehr News Agency on Saturday, August 8, while discussing recent developments in the Middle East.

He said the United States had failed to draw the necessary lessons from its experiences in Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia and had continued to believe that it could intervene anywhere in the world and reshape conditions according to its interests.

According to Dehghan, Washington had even assumed that it could replicate 'its approach toward Venezuela,' remove a country’s leader and take him away. He said the United States and Israel had similarly believed that targeting Iran’s leadership would cause the country’s political structure to collapse and allow them to install an alternative leadership.

Dehghan said the recent war, combined with the Iranian public’s response, the performance of the armed forces and the leadership of the country, had exposed the United States and Israel in the eyes of the international public.

He argued that the conflict had revealed 'the true nature of the two sides' more effectively than any media or propaganda campaign could have done.

Today, it has become universally acknowledged that these regimes are murderous, brutal, child-killing, and genocidal, and that nothing matters to them beyond their own interests. Even if we had mobilized every possible avenue of media and propaganda to convey this message to the world, we might never have achieved such a result.

Dehghan accused the United States and Israel of pursuing their own interests at the expense of regional stability and said public perceptions of them had changed significantly because of the war.

“The aura and myth of US and Israeli invincibility have been broken,” Dehghan said, adding that the two sides were now seeking assistance and support from others rather than presenting themselves as providers of security.

Dehghan said the Islamic Republic had repeatedly argued that the United States and countries aligned with Washington could not guarantee lasting security for other states and that security could not simply be purchased.

The recent war, he said, demonstrated that those claiming to be capable of protecting others were themselves unable to guarantee their own security.

He described the latest developments as a “third revolution,” saying Iran had demonstrated that, as an established and powerful state, it would not surrender or bow to pressure, threats or coercion.

Iran, he added, was prepared to bear the costs of preserving its independence, dignity and commitment to its principles and values.

Dehghan described that stance as the “height of power, and victory.”