After forty days of bombardment by the world’s most powerful military, the assassination of its supreme leader, and the destruction of thousands of targets across its territory, the Islamic regime of Iran remains in place. The Trump administration is framing the ceasefire as a total victory. The problem is that winning a battle is not the same as winning a war. As things stand, this war is a loss for the United States.

The administration’s stated objectives shifted constantly throughout the conflict, from regime change to dismantling the nuclear program, to destroying missile production and to seizing oil resources. But the Venezuelan scenario, where a weakened leadership capitulated under pressure, failed to materialize.