Iran views the current war as an existential confrontation that will either break the 47-year siege around it or bring the regime down entirely, political scientist Vali Nasr has told Bloomberg. Despite more than 1,000 dead, burning fuel depots, and crippled oil infrastructure, Tehran has calculated that victory depends not on matching American and Israeli firepower but on outlasting it.

Iran's leadership has framed this conflict in the starkest possible terms, "Hvylya" reports, citing Nasr's interview on the Mishal Husain Show. "Either we go down, or that cordon gets broken," Nasr said, summarizing the Iranian position. "They very well understand that this 47 years of resistance to the United States is no longer sustainable - in the way that it was waged."

Nasr, who once advised the US State Department and has spent his career studying Iran, argued that Tehran's strategy rests on a simple bet: America and Israel hit harder but tire faster. "They think United States and Israel can dash a lot faster, but they're not really long distance runners," he said. Iran's leadership believes the population's willingness to absorb punishment, combined with the economic pain inflicted on global energy markets through 120-dollar oil, gives it leverage Washington did not anticipate.

The calculation extends beyond mere survival. Iran wants sanctions lifted, the US military presence in the region reduced, and a guarantee that this kind of war will never be repeated. Tehran has also been working to convince Gulf states that American bases are not protecting them but rather inviting conflict. Nasr acknowledged these may be "maximalist goals" but stressed they are what drives the Iranian war effort.

President Trump has signaled his desire to end the war quickly, but Nasr said Iran is "rebuffing overtures from the US right now." The war has lasted far longer and proved far messier than Washington planned, damaging US bases, disrupting energy markets, and imposing costs on the global economy that Trump never anticipated.

Also read: The Fallujah Lesson Trump's Team Ignores: How Wounded Pride Turns Small Wars Into Quagmires.