Iran’s Isolation as US and Israel Launch Major Assault

In the final hours of a significant escalation, the Iranian regime found itself largely isolated as the United States and Israel launched a major joint strike on Saturday, February 28, 2026. The attacks targeted Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian, alongside other top regime and military commanders, revealing a network of alliances significantly diminished over time.

A Network of Alliances Eroded

At its peak a decade ago, the Islamic Republic of Iran boasted a network of allied Islamist militias in Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen and Gaza, alongside a close partnership with the Syrian government. Yet, the recent joint US and Israeli operation highlighted the limited number of allies willing to openly support Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite militia, has not yet joined the current conflict. This follows Israel’s killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in September 2024 and subsequent, ongoing Israeli military operations targeting suspected Hezbollah targets across Lebanon.

Several months after the attacks on Hezbollah, rebels toppled the Syrian dictator Bashar Al Assad. Iran’s military had spent over a decade propping up Assad’s regime during a devastating civil war, but that support ultimately failed to prevent his removal from power.

Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen have threatened attacks on critical Red Sea shipping routes, but have not yet carried them out. Despite evidence of military cooperation with Russia during its full-scale invasion of Ukraine – including the appearance of Iranian-manufactured Shahed drones striking Ukrainian cities – the Kremlin remained conspicuously absent during the initial 24 hours of the US-Israeli bombardment of Iran.

Enduring Pain and Internal Unrest

Throughout its 47-year history, the Islamic Republic of Iran has demonstrated a capacity to withstand significant hardship. Hundreds of thousands of Iranians died during the eight-year Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s, and the Iranian economy has endured multiple layers of US-led economic sanctions in the decades since.

Year after year, Iranian security forces have demonstrated a willingness to suppress popular uprisings within Iranian cities, often using deadly force and facing widespread allegations of torture and mistreatment. These tactics were deployed against protesters in 1999, 2003, 2009, 2022, and during economic protests that began in December 2025. Similar tactics have been used against uprisings in Kurdish regions of the country.

While the regime has consistently remained in power through these periods of unrest, the repeated killing and brutalization of citizens has eroded the legitimacy of the Khamenei theocracy.

Mistakes and Ineptitude

Alongside its brutality, the Iranian regime has made high-profile mistakes revealing incompetence at the highest levels of government. In 2020, Iranian air defense shot down Ukrainian Airlines Flight 752 shortly after takeoff from Imam Khomeini Airport in Tehran, killing all 176 people on board. A Tehran court later acknowledged it was a mistake made during a period of heightened tension with the US.

In May 2024, then-president Ebrahim Raisi was killed in a helicopter crash in northwestern Iran. Tehran relied on a reconnaissance drone from neighboring Turkey to locate the crash site.

A “Zombie Regime”?

This combination of brutality and ineptitude led long-time Iran watcher Karim Sadjadpour to describe the Islamic Republic as a “zombie regime.”

Iranian officials are vowing revenge and have declared 40 days of mourning following the recent attacks. However, scenes of spontaneous celebration have also emerged in Syria, Iran, and among the vast Iranian diaspora around the world.

After 36 years in power, Khamenei faced a situation with few friends and many enemies.