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An expert’s point of view on a current event.

The U.S. Won the War With Iran

It wasn’t a knockout blow, but Washington prevailed on points.

Kroenig-Matthew-foreign-policy-columnist12

By Matthew Kroenig, a columnist at Foreign Policy and vice president and senior director of the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security.

Then-presidential candidate Donald Trump walks onstage during a campaign event at the SeaGate Convention Centre, in Toledo, Ohio.

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June 23, 2026, 8:30 AM

According to an emerging conventional wisdom, the United States suffered a catastrophic loss in the war and memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Iran that were worse than Vietnam and comparable to the United Kingdom’s embarrassing defeat in the Suez Crisis in 1956.

This is erroneous hyperbole.

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The U.S. Won the War With Iran

It wasn’t a knockout blow, but Washington prevailed on points.

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