A war meant to break Iran could leave Tehran stronger, and Gulf exposed

In an interview with Reuters before a scheduled address to the nation on Wednesday, Trump said the United States would end its war on Iran "pretty quickly" and signalled on Tuesday he could wind down the war even without a deal. An end to the war without clear guarantees on what ‌would follow would pose a significant danger for Gulf states, leaving the region to absorb the consequences of a war that would be ⁠concluding to Iran’s advantage. The killing of Ali Khamenei served to add legitimacy in Iran to the theocratic leadership's most hardline instincts, regional analysts say, binding the clerical establishment and the elite Revolutionary Guards to a narrative of existential resistance in which surrender is unthinkable and endurance sacred.