Questions continue to intensify regarding the objectives of the Israeli-American war against Iran, particularly concerning the ability of the parties involved to bear its political and military costs. At the centre of these discussions is growing attention to a historical Iranian doctrine centred on the ability to endure suffering and remain steadfast in the face of harsh conditions.
Within the Iranian collective consciousness, the concept of resilience and patience in the face of hardship is not merely a tactical option. Rather, it represents an existential strategy rooted in the concept known as “The Guarded Domains”, which portrays Iran as a fortress historically and geographically under siege.
The Historical Roots of Endurance
The Sasanian Empire (224–651 CE) is considered the earliest testing ground where Iranian strategies of resilience took shape in the face of technologically and militarily superior global powers such as Rome and Byzantium. The survival of the Sasanian state did not rely solely on the bravery of its cavalry but also on a profound understanding of geography. The Iranian plateau was used as a natural defensive barrier capable of exhausting invading armies.
The campaign of the Roman Emperor Julian against the Sasanian Empire in 363 CE offers a striking example of how suffering was turned into a strategic weapon. When the large Roman army advanced towards the capital Ctesiphon, Shah Shapur II adopted the “Scorched Earth” strategy, a tactic involving the destruction of anything that an invading force could use for food, water, or shelter.
Historical records indicate that Roman forces found themselves marching through what was described as a “burning desert”. Ripe wheat fields were burned, wells were poisoned, and livestock were deliberately slaughtered by the Iranians.
This willingness to sacrifice local prosperity for national sovereignty represents one of the earliest foundations of contemporary Iranian identity, which accepts the concept of a “resistance economy” as a necessity for survival, according to reports by the OER Project and the website Olkashn.
With the rise of the Safavid state in 1501, the concept of resilience entered a new phase through the fusion of Persian national identity with Twelver Shiite doctrine. In this period, suffering expanded from a physical and material condition into a spiritual and religious one.
The Qizilbash fighters represented the vanguard of Safavid endurance. Their relationship with the Shah went beyond military service, resembling the bond between a spiritual disciple and a Sufi master. This absolute loyalty, which sometimes reached the level of voluntary martyrdom or advancing into battle without armour, gave the Safavid state extraordinary human capacity to absorb military shocks.
Facing Ottoman superiority in firearms and artillery, the Safavids once again resorted to tactical withdrawal strategies, using the Zagros Mountains as natural defensive fortresses, according to the American publication Iranica Online affiliated with Columbia University.
Safavid leaders, particularly Shah Abbas the Great, also recognised that resilience required economic flexibility. When the Ottomans attempted to strangle Iran economically by controlling silk trade routes, the Safavids developed alternative corridors through the Arabian Gulf in cooperation with Armenian merchants and certain European powers.
This historical circumvention of economic pressure forms part of the roots of Iran’s current strategy of bypassing American oil and financial sanctions, according to a study by the University of Cambridge.
The Shahnameh and the Cultural Narrative of Endurance
The concept of Iranian resilience cannot be understood without reference to the epic Shahnameh, attributed to Abu al Qasim Ferdowsi and Abu Mansur Daqiqi al Tusi. The epic was composed during a historical period when there were fears that Iranian language and culture might disappear.
The Shahnameh presents heroic figures such as Rostam who face unbearable trials to protect “Iran Shahr”. The spirit of trust in divine justice and confidence in the righteousness of one’s cause, which permeates the verses of the epic, has evolved into a cultural current that continues to nourish Iranian political thinking.
In the Shahnameh, endurance is not merely about military victory. It represents the preservation of identity in the face of an aggressive “other”, whether Turanian, Roman, Arab, or Western. This cultural accumulation contributed to shaping the Iranian citizen as a naturally patient figure who views hardship as part of an epic journey toward deliverance.
The Islamic Revolution
After 1979, the concept of endurance became more clearly framed within what is described as “Islamic resistance”. The experience of the Iran-Iraq war (1980–1988) was transformed into a cornerstone of the state’s military and political doctrine.
According to a report by the website Modern Diplomacy, the war with Iraq represented the “great suffering” that reshaped Iranian society. Iran lost more than 188,000 fighters during the conflict, an average of around 70 deaths per day over 2,887 days.
The report notes that these immense human sacrifices created what sociologists describe as an extremely high pain threshold, where the loss of life for a national religious cause becomes socially expected and collectively absorbed.
In 2011, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei introduced the concept of the “Resistance Economy” as a direct response to the intensification of international sanctions.
This concept goes beyond a simple austerity plan. It represents a policy aimed at transforming external pressure into opportunities for domestic development. The strategy includes 24 key principles, among them reliance on domestic human capacity and innovation, reducing dependence on crude oil exports, reforming consumption patterns and avoiding waste, expanding trade with neighbouring countries, and bypassing traditional financial channels.
The website Madras Courier, addressing the question of why attacks on Iran may not end according to American terms, argued that the stark contrast between Iran’s ability to endure suffering and that of its adversaries lies in the capacity to sustain prolonged attrition.
The report suggested that while Iran possesses what it described as a “doctrine of the self sacrificing individual”, Western societies tend to display a heightened sensitivity to human and economic losses.
Iran’s Adversaries
Israel possesses enormous air and intelligence superiority, which it demonstrated during what was described as the “12 Day War” in June 2025 and in the strikes of late February 2026 that targeted senior leadership figures. However, the state also faces what analysts describe as structural vulnerabilities.
According to the Chatham House research centre, the country’s small geographic size makes its economic centres highly vulnerable to paralysis by Iranian missiles or by armed groups allied with Tehran.
The centre also noted that the loss of field agents and specialised operators, including certain Mossad units in June 2025, limits Israel’s ability to sustain a long term war. This is compounded by political pressures, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu requires rapid and decisive victories to secure his political survival ahead of the 2026 election year.
The United States, meanwhile, entered 2026 facing deep political and social divisions. Opinion polls conducted during the year indicate that only 21 percent of Americans support military action against Iran, while 75 percent also oppose expansionist policies such as the proposed annexation of Greenland that had been suggested by Donald Trump.
The United States is also preparing to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup finals during the summer. This will be the first edition of the tournament to include 48 national teams, an increase of 16 teams compared to the previous edition. The global sporting event, which occurs only once every four years, was last hosted by the United States in 1994.
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