How Iran survives against global giants

The Middle East is once again on the brink of chaos. Iran-Israel tensions have rippled through global politics, markets and diplomacy, fueling headlines of missile barrages, threats, sanctions and retaliation. Analysts predict Iran's collapse. Politicians promise resistance. Yet Tehran remains under intense pressure.

For more than four decades, Iran has been living under tremendous external pressure. Economic sanctions have hampered its growth, cyber-attacks have crippled its infrastructure, assassinations have claimed key military and scientific figures, and diplomatic campaigns have sought to exclude it from the global system.

Israel, decisively supported by the United States and Western allies, enjoys overwhelming technological and military superiority. Yet, despite this relentless pressure, Iran has not capitulated or faded from the regional equation; if anything, it has learned to fight, adapt and project power on its own terms. How?

For years, Iran largely avoided sustained confrontation with Israel, despite periodic escalation. Recognising its limitations in conventional warfare, Tehran has developed an alternative playbook: one based on resilience, proxy influence and unconventional warfare.

Then what is Iran's real strategic advantage? Sanctions and threats have strengthened Iran's sense of national resistance more than they have weakened it.

Every attempt to isolate Iran is reframed by the state as a struggle for sovereignty and national survival—helping rally domestic unity, including among segments of the population critical of the government.

Over the years, Tehran has built a complex network of allies and proxy forces across the Middle East. From Lebanon and Iraq to Syria and Yemen, Iran's 'sphere of deterrence' enables Tehran to project power, destabilise its rivals and preserve strategic depth all while avoiding the direct costs of large-scale war. Over time, these regional alliances have become Iran's strongest shield against foreign pressure and isolation.

Israel may be winning the war in the shadows. Still, a full-scale conflict with Iran could produce consequences that neither side can fully contain. A miscalculation could turn the Middle East into a dangerous regional fault line - crippling oil markets, threatening global trade and pushing millions into humanitarian disaster.

That's why every conflict between Iran and Israel terrifies the international community. It is no longer merely regional but global in its consequences.

Economic sanctions reveal one of the great ironies of modern geopolitics. Ordinary Iranians have paid the ultimate price—runaway inflation, shrinking wages and a steady decline in living standards. Yet the long-term effectiveness of sanctions remains deeply contested among analysts. Instead of breaking Tehran's resolve, sanctions have forced Iran to adapt.

States once burdened by Western sanctions no longer stand alone; they are finding new lifelines in rival power centres. Iran, in particular, has turned this global shift into a strategic advantage by deepening ties with Beijing and Moscow to blunt efforts at total isolation. Behind the narrative of defiance lies economic pain, a country burdened by political repression and a restless young generation increasingly disillusioned with the status quo.

Stability in the face of foreign pressure has not resolved Iran's internal crisis. Millions still demand jobs, dignity, freedom and a future they can believe in. A state can survive sanctions and isolation, but it cannot indefinitely suppress domestic discontent.

The US experience in Iraq and Afghanistan has made one lesson painfully clear: military power can topple governments, but it cannot guarantee peace or political success.

Regimes can collapse quickly, yet instability can persist for decades. Iran has taken that lesson to heart. Its security strategy is built for endurance, not expansion.

Israel can damage facilities, disrupt networks and achieve tactical and strategic gains. Still, it cannot easily erase the political and ideological networks that sustain Iran's regional influence.

What remains is a dangerous shadow war in which neither side has achieved decisive strategic dominance. Yet, both continue pushing the region closer to wider conflict.

The Middle East remains trapped in a vicious cycle of insecurity, fueling aggression. Every escalation pushes the region closer to disaster, while ordinary civilians have to pay the highest price.

Beneath each new escalation lies a deeper question: How long can the Middle East continue to live in the shadow of perpetual conflict?

The author is currently studying at the Department of International Relations, DU. She can be found at noveratasfia@gmail.com