40 Days That Shook the [Epstein] Empire to Its Foundations: How Iran Turned the Tables on the U.S.
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Forty days after the start of the war that was unlawfully imposed on the Islamic Republic of Iran, the unthinkable has happened. The United States has withdrawn without hesitation and Iran has declared a “historic victory,” thereby confirming its authority as a new world power.
And the Epstein Empire, despite deploying overwhelming force, is forced to accept a 10-point plan from Iran that includes a permanent ceasefire, the lifting of all primary and secondary sanctions, and the withdrawal of American combat troops from the region, writes Sarwar Abbas .
The proposal also includes Iran’s full and undisputed control of the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway that has disrupted the global energy flow over the past month.
After 40 days of a war that should never have taken place, the aggressors have failed to achieve even a single one of their stated objectives. Trump desperately sought a way out of the quagmire he himself had helped create, and the world witnessed something unprecedented: the defeat of a superpower at the hands of a nation that refuses to bow.
The war of aggression against Iran was launched on February 28, amidst indirect nuclear negotiations between Tehran and Washington. The original goal was audacious: “regime change” in Iran. The first wave of attacks specifically targeted the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, along with several high-ranking military commanders. Subsequent waves targeted both commanders and top officials.
Washington and Tel Aviv thought that this time it would be different. Unlike the 12-day war of June last year, which also took place in the midst of nuclear negotiations, the proponents of “regime change” felt this time that the collapse of the Islamic Republic was imminent. They were catastrophically wrong, something they must now realize.
Immediately after the start of what was dubbed “Operation Epic Fury,” Trump projected the confidence that American aggression would enable the Iranian people to overthrow their own government, in the hope of installing one subordinate to Washington.
Perhaps the plan was to do what they did in Venezuela. But Trump and his assistants forgot that Iran is not Venezuela. And the Iranian people are not passive spectators.
Following devastating Iranian retaliatory attacks that destroyed nearly all American military installations in the region, President Trump issued a forced statement two weeks ago. He claimed that a “regime change” had already taken place in Iran, referring to the election of Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei as the country’s new leader.
He was ridiculed for this bizarre claim. As one observer noted, the American-Israeli war machine could not even change Iran’s revolutionary slogans, let alone overthrow the system that has survived nearly five decades of plots and conspiracies.
When Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei addressed the nation on March 13, he struck a defiant tone – he swore revenge for the martyrs, reaffirmed opposition to aggression, and emphasized the strategic value of control over the Strait of Hormuz.
Instead of signifying a collapse, his election demonstrated institutional strength, something the products of the Epstein class will never understand. The Islamic Republic rests on constitutional structures that are not tied to a single person. Its strategic doctrine remains unwavering, which has been demonstrated again during this war.
Trump has long portrayed Iran’s nuclear program as an existential threat. Before the Ramadan War, he threatened military action to dismantle it, even though, as many social media users noted, he had claimed after the 12-day war that the program had already been “destroyed.”
Ultimately, after 40 days of war and brainless rhetoric, the fantasy of “regime change” also vanished. His attempt to attack nuclear facilities in Isfahan failed spectacularly, as the Americans lost a vast fleet of aircraft in the process without achieving anything.
Trump was also fixated on the Strait of Hormuz and vowed to open it. The Iranian navy had effectively closed the waterway to American and allied ships following the outbreak of the unprovoked war. Any attempt to cross the Strait without Iran’s permission was asking for disaster.
Trump issued various warnings: reopen the Street or expect attacks on Iranian power plants. The deadlines changed from 48 hours to five days to ten days and then back to 48 hours, before he finally gave up and accepted Iran’s 10-point proposal.
The shifting objectives of the senseless American military campaign, from day one to day forty, revealed a stunning lack of strategy or clarity. Even American politicians and commentators condemned the war as unnecessary and unfounded, with many even proposing the 25th Amendment to remove the megalomaniacal president from office.
In addition to the strategic failure, the United States suffered devastating military and economic damage from Iran’s retaliatory attacks as part of Operation True Promise 4 – 99 of them in 40 days.
In the first week alone, Iranian retaliatory attacks cost the American taxpayer more than $1 billion, according to reports. The deployment of aircraft carriers and fighter jets accounted for $630 million, while the lost F-15E jets in Kuwait cost nearly $300 million extra, according to an analysis by Press TV.
The war had become a costly trap for the Trump administration, widely seen as a strategic miscalculation with no gains and only losses. That is precisely why Netanyahu’s role was crucial. He could not do it alone, so he dragged Trump into the unnecessary war.
In total, 99 waves of Iranian missile and drone attacks leveled American bases throughout the region, while American troops were forced to abandon their fortified positions for hotels and office spaces. Americans have downplayed the number of casualties, particularly the death toll, but independent estimates run into the hundreds, if not thousands.
The Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, the bastion of the American military presence in the region, sustained the heaviest damage. Iranian attacks repeatedly targeted the headquarters in Manama, demonstrating a new model of asymmetrical warfare and inflicting irreparable damage on the infrastructure, ammunition depots, and command buildings there.
The US Air Force was completely decimated in the region. On March 27, the IRGC destroyed a $700 million E-3 Sentry AWACS at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, along with multiple electronic warfare aircraft and refueling planes. A few days earlier, Iranian and Iraqi resistance forces shot down six KC-135 Stratotankers, the vital backbone of aerial refueling.
A few days later, Iran succeeded in hitting an F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter jet for the first time. This multi-billion dollar asset of the US military was attacked in central Iran.
A number of F-15s, F-16s, and F-18s, more than a dozen MQ-9 Reaper drones, and more than 170 drones were also shot down or damaged. Four AN/TPY-2 THAAD radars and a multi-billion dollar early warning installation in Qatar were also hit.
On April 3, also known as the “darkest day” for the US Air Force, an F-15E Strike Eagle, an A-10 Thunderbolt II, multiple MQ-9 Reaper drones, and Hermes reconnaissance platforms were also shot down by Iranian air defenses, which have improved enormously since the 12-Day War.
On the other hand, oil prices reached their highest level in three years as a result of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz to American and allied ships, which had a global domino effect.
Gasoline prices in the US rose to above $4 per gallon, and diesel also reached $6 in many states. Supply disruptions also spread to LNG, fertilizer, and other raw materials.
To make matters worse, Trump’s popularity plummeted to 36 percent, his lowest since his return to the White House, with 59 percent disapproval, the highest in his political career.
Now the Republicans are worried about the midterm elections.
Now, 40 days after the start of the war of aggression, the US is forced to accept Tehran’s 10-point proposal: a permanent ceasefire, Iranian control over the Strait of Hormuz, acceptance of enrichment, full lifting of sanctions, termination of all UN resolutions, war reparations, withdrawal of US forces from the region, and an end to fighting on all fronts, including against the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon.
This is not a stalemate. This is a defeat – historic, unmistakable, and crushing.
The era of unbridled American power in West Asia has come to an end. Iran has grown into a regional superpower, and the world must accept this undeniable fact.