Why the Islamic Republic Won’t Surrender and Can’t Be Made To
March 18, 2026
Iran’s regime, built for crisis and sustained by the IRGC’s deep entrenchment, can absorb U.S. and Israeli strikes without collapsing; external pressure only hardens its resolve, ensuring the conflict shifts into prolonged asymmetric retaliation rather than surrender, leaving Washington facing an adversary it cannot defeat or coerce into ending the war.