US-Iran: Military Action and Economic Pressure Intensify

Writer Hong Dae-seon diagnosed that the US has declared the 'annihilation of Iran' by economically strangling it. Amid hypotheses that the US could strike Iran with overwhelming firepower, the possibility of military action before the midterm elections is being mentioned.

There is a strategic perspective that the US military package would not be complete without including nuclear development issues. Analysis also suggests that an economic strangulation strategy could inflict suffering on the Iranian people and cause social unrest.

He emphasized that by analyzing the historical reasons behind the formation of food culture, rather than simply praising or appreciating Korean cuisine, one can trace back the identity and daily life of Koreans by understanding their daily eating habits.

He emphasized that eliminating Iran's nuclear capabilities is essential to gain public support for war among US voters.

President Trump rejected Iran's conditions, demanding a comprehensive settlement of the nuclear program, and viewed the elimination of Iran's nuclear capabilities as essential to explain the justification for war to US voters.

In contrast, Iran uses 'salami tactics' to negotiate by dividing issues one by one, like slices.

Iran's strategy is to exclude the nuclear issue from the 'salami slices,' demonstrating an intention to gain the upper hand in negotiations.

The current military standoff in the Middle East is a situation where neither country can politically back down, as the war has not fully ended. This is similar to a 'battle for the high ground' to gain an advantageous position.

While US military firepower is overwhelming, strategically they remain in a stalemate, with both sides calculating their moves until the US midterm elections.

Iran has lost its fear of war with the US and has developed an immunity to strikes that are not fatal. Writer Hong Dae-seon described the US as the strongest combat nation but inexperienced in war.

Analysis suggests that Iran has lost its fear of war with the US and has developed an immunity to strikes that are not fatal.

The Vietnam War, the Afghanistan War, and the Iraq War are cited as examples of failures due to a lack of public consent.

Iran is also using a strategy of not surrendering, holding out, and blockading the Strait of Hormuz to tie down the US and drag it into a quagmire.

The US Treasury Secretary vowed to cut off Iranian oil exports within two weeks, but Iran has developed sophisticated smuggling routes, including ship-to-ship transfers with China, effectively continuing exports despite claiming not a single barrel was shipped out.

Iran believes that enduring economic strangulation is separate from the collapse of its theocratic system. It also maintains a strategy of not surrendering to the US and blockading the Strait of Hormuz to draw the US into a long-term quagmire. A characteristic of dictatorial regimes is that while their economies can be strangled, their regimes do not die from strangulation.

It generates significant strategic effects at relatively low cost through actions like blockading the Strait of Hormuz. These Iranian counterattacks increase the burden of fuel costs on US voters, effectively pressuring the administration.

US warfare costs hundreds of millions of dollars a day, but Iran conducts war in a much cheaper way. Iran uses low-cost tactics such as laying sea mines, deploying drones, and ballistic missiles.

Additionally, by secretly funding proxy forces like Hezbollah and the Houthis, Iran inflicts indirect but powerful blows, bothering the US.

Iran responds to the freezing of overseas assets due to economic sanctions by pushing up oil prices. This dynamic, where the blockaded party retaliates with a blockade, is highly disadvantageous to the US in terms of cost.

Iran is employing an economic pressure strategy to raise global oil prices above $100 per Brent barrel, thereby increasing the burden of fuel costs on US voters and pressuring the Trump administration.