No Easy War Here: Why America Isn't Invading Iran Anytime Soon

ELLSWORTH AIR FORCE BASE, S.D. -- A B-1B Lancer taxis down the runway upon completion of a training mission, Nov. 9, 2009.
July 23, 2018 Topic: Security Region: Middle East Blog Brand: The Buzz Tags: IranMilitaryTechnologyWorldU.S.TrumpTwitter

No Easy War Here: Why America Isn't Invading Iran Anytime Soon

Iran’s ability to defend itself against a U.S. invasion begins with its formidable geography.

In Iraq and Afghanistan, the United States found that conquering a country is the easy part. It’s the occupation that proves costly. While occupying Iran would be at least as difficult as the Iraqi and Afghan occupations, even invading Iran would prove enormously challenging. Consequently, while conquering Iran is the most sustainable way to prevent it from building a nuclear weapon, Washington is unlikely to attempt to do so anytime soon.

Zachary Keck is managing editor of The National Interest. You can find him on Twitter: @ZacharyKeck.