In the days ahead, the direction of Operation Epic Fury will become unmistakable in the targets the United States and Israel choose to strike.<\/span><\/p>\n The U.S.-Israeli air campaign has already delivered historic results. Our losses to enemy fire have been dramatically lower than in past major operations \u2014 far below the roughly one aircraft per day suffered in the run-up to Desert Storm. Precision strikes combined with air superiority have severely damaged Iran\u2019s missile forces, air defenses, and naval capabilities.<\/span><\/p>\n The extraordinary rescue of the downed F-15E pilot and weapons systems officer \u2014 the latter extracted on Easter Sunday after going missing on Good Friday \u2014 further showcased unmatched special operations skill and real-time intelligence fusion, with operators inserted near Isfahan and a small team sortieing to a 7,000-foot ridge to recover the injured colonel under enemy pressure.<\/span><\/p>\n These successes set the stage for the critical phase now unfolding.<\/span><\/p>\n President Donald Trump\u2019s remarks on Monday included both talks of negotiations and a threat to hit dual-use infrastructure, but the clearest indicators will be the strikes themselves in the coming hours and days.<\/span><\/p>\n For America and its allies, the central goals remain eliminating Iran\u2019s nuclear and missile threat, neutralizing its ability to close the Strait of Hormuz, and cutting off support for its terror proxies \u2014 Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis. These elements have long formed the regime\u2019s capacity to destabilize the region and threaten global energy security.<\/span><\/p>\n Strait of Hormuz (Photo by Gallo Images\/Orbital Horizon\/Copernicus Sentinel Data 2025)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Iran\u2019s center of gravity is more existential: the survival of the revolutionary regime itself.<\/span><\/p>\n Animated by a messianic death cult ideology that seeks to hasten the end times and the return of the 12th Hidden Imam \u2014 the Mahdi \u2014 the regime views its stockpile of 60% enriched uranium as vital insurance for that apocalyptic mission.<\/span><\/p>\n But preserving custody of that material increasingly forces a confrontation with the regime\u2019s very existence, even if full regime change has not been the publicly stated goal.<\/span><\/p>\n Watch the target sets carefully.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n If strikes concentrate on tactical assets around the Strait of Hormuz \u2014 anti-ship missiles, coastal batteries, fast-attack craft, and related naval infrastructure \u2014 the immediate priority will be reopening vital shipping lanes and safeguarding global oil flows. This approach would focus on restoring freedom of navigation while building on gains already achieved. But, as operations against the Houthis to safeguard the Red Sea showed, it\u2019s not easy.<\/span><\/p>\n But targeting dual-use infrastructure, such as bridges, power plants, and logistics nodes, would indicate sustained pressure on the regime\u2019s ability to move forces and maintain domestic control. Such targets squeeze the theocrats\u2019 sustainment without committing to large-scale ground operations, potentially accelerating internal strains on a population long weary of repression.<\/span><\/p>\n The most telling sign, however, would be systematic attacks on Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Basij militia leadership, command nodes, and control networks. If the campaign pivots decisively in this direction, it will mark the abandonment of meaningful negotiation and a clear intent to drive this terror regime toward collapse. Air power that degrades the mullahs\u2019 tools of internal repression \u2014 especially amid existing domestic discontent \u2014 could burst open the door for rapid regime collapse.<\/span><\/p>\n Only the last option \u2014 going after the regime \u2014 would likely lead to the United States recovering Iran\u2019s enriched uranium.<\/span><\/p>\n Ultimately, the regime faces a binary choice: recognize the futility of defiance or cling to its apocalyptic ideology at ever greater cost. The Iranian people, long oppressed by a corrupt theocracy, could prove decisive once the regime\u2019s instruments of control are sufficiently shattered.<\/span><\/p>\n Operation Epic Fury has already reshaped the battlefield in America\u2019s favor. The strategic decisions made now \u2014 guided by a clear grasp of centers of gravity as Carl von Clausewitz described them, the hub of all power and movement \u2014 will determine whether this campaign delivers not just tactical success but lasting victory: a Middle East more secure, global commerce protected, and a dangerous regime consigned to history\u2019s garbage pile.<\/span><\/p>\n What unfolds in the coming days will turn on those target choices and the intent behind them.<\/span><\/p>\n * * *<\/p>\n![\"Strait](\"https:\/\/dw-wp-production.imgix.net\/2026\/03\/GettyImages-2242929815-864x576.jpg\")
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