A War of Choice: What to Expect from the U.S.-Israeli Strikes on Iran?
With Khamenei killed and Gulf civilian infrastructure under attack, the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran have set in motion a volatile new phase in Middle Eastern geopolitics.
6-minute read
03 March 2026
By Bijan Khajehpour
6-minute read
As the impact of the joint U.S.-Israeli military strikes on Iran reverberate across the Middle East, the war’s broader ramifications can already be discerned to some extent. On the one hand, the killing of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and several top-ranking military commanders, will change the composition of power in Iran, without any certainty about the direction the country will take. On the other hand, while Iranian retaliation against Israel was predictable, its attacks on Arab Gulf civilian installations were not. These attacks are likely to change the status and perception of countries such as Qatar and the UAE for the foreseeable future. What is clear is that this is not a war of necessity, but one of choice. So, what is driving the strategic calculus on the different sides?
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