Is Trump heading to a Pyrrhic victory in Iran?

Pyrrhus was said to have remarked that one more victory would leave his kingdom ‘utterly ruined.’ Some see echoes in US interventions in the Middle East.

By: Andrew Latham, Macalester College, The Conversation

Outlets: The Conversation

Published: April 22, 2026

Words: 1,130

Last Updated: 3 months, 1 week ago

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By Andrew Latham, Macalester College

President Donald Trump has claimed victory in the war in Iran even before the conflict is over. But despite killing the country’s leader and seriously degrading its military, there is an argument being made that the Islamic Republic has emerged all the stronger for having simply survived.

Indeed, a phrase that has repeatedly cropped up as the U.S. has sunk more and more

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