Israel believes Iran is ready to 'fight to the bitter end'.
Despite intense airstrikes from the US and Israel, Iran is believed to maintain internal stability and be prepared for an all-out war.
According to RIA Novosti on March 18, the Washington Post, citing a cable from the US Embassy in Jerusalem, reported that Israel assesses Iran as currently ready to "fight to the end," despite the death of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and the continuous airstrikes targeting its territory.
According to this publication, the resilience of the Tehran government is one of several factors that the administration of President Donald Trump appears to have underestimated in the current conflict. The cable from the US Embassy emphasizes: "Israel's assessment suggests that Iran is not 'wavering' and is ready to 'fight to the bitter end'."
The document further reveals that Israel had expected Khamenei's death to cause chaos within the Iranian leadership. However, in recent days, the stability of the Iranian regime has become evident, evidenced by its ability to launch ballistic missiles "wherever they want."
Echoing the concerns about the inaccuracies in the forecast, CNN, citing its own sources, reported that Washington had underestimated the effectiveness of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) from Iran.
"The U.S. was unprepared for the scale of the threat posed by drones," CNN stated.
Media reports indicate that the US underestimated the effectiveness of these attacks, despite taking into account the experience from the conflict in Ukraine—where UAVs played a crucial role. A US official revealed that the military is making every effort to expedite the procurement and modernization of anti-UAV technology. However, the biggest obstacle currently lies with the US Congress, which has yet to secure timely funding.
Earlier this month, reports indicated that U.S. air defenses were unable to effectively counter the Shahed UAV. This threat was acknowledged by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Kane. According to Bloomberg, last week Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll confirmed that Washington had deployed 10,000 interceptor UAVs (which had been tested in Ukraine) to the region.
The US and Israeli military campaign against Iran has now entered its third week with continuous tit-for-tat exchanges. Tel Aviv declares its top priority is preventing Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Meanwhile, Washington threatens to destroy Iran's military capabilities and calls on its people to overthrow the regime. Tehran insists on maintaining its self-defense position and states that it sees no reason to resume negotiations.
