Russian Analyst: The Iran War is the Greatest Defeat for the US in History

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, MOSCOW—A Russian analyst, Vasili Zaitsev, opines that the ceasefire in the American-Israeli war against Iran is a moment that reveals Washington’s humiliation, with a significance similar to what is historically known as the Suez Moment.

In his article in the Russian newspaper Gazeta, quoted by Al Jazeera on Wednesday (22/4/2026), he explains that this term is used to describe a moment of downfall, when the prestige of an empire appeared to be thriving, as occurred with Britain after the 1956 Suez Crisis.

Britain did indeed win militarily against Egypt, but ultimately lost politically, after being forced by the United States to withdraw and hand over the Suez Canal to the late Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser.

According to the author, the plan—reminiscent of what Trump is currently saying—was based on the destruction of Egyptian civilisation through crippling the economy and installing a more compliant ruler.

Thus, Zaitsev argues that the similarity with the Iran war is very clear. Trump entered the war with grand promises, namely to overthrow the regime, seize enriched uranium, and conquer Iran by force.

However, according to the author, the war ended without achieving those objectives, because Iran was not destroyed, but instead emerged with greater capability to impose its conditions.

Failure of Objectives

The author adds that the humiliation lies not only in the failure of the objectives, but in the United States’ own retreat.