The dust is still settling after the twelve-day joint Israeli-American air campaign ripped open bunkers, erased Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps command nodes, and shattered the illusion of Iran’s invincibility. Fordow lies in ruins. The nuclear weapons program—degraded, if not destroyed. Tehran reels from the precision and audacity of allied strikes that not only hit hard but exposed the regime’s vulnerability to modern warfare.
While some Western commentators now pivot to calls for restraint, diplomacy, and a new round of negotiations, they fail to grasp one immutable fact: The war never ended. The kinetic phase paused. The conflict itself has transitioned. If Washington and Jerusalem want this victory to endure, they must pivot with equal speed. They must demand that Iran terminate all support to its proxies.
Intelligence services must dismantle the proxy networks piece by piece.
This demand must be the centerpiece of U.S. and Israeli strategy in the post-war environment. If regime change lies beyond reach, regime compliance is the doctrine. No negotiation, no sanctions relief, no path to normalization should proceed until Iran acquiesces. That begins by making the support and coordination of proxies so costly, so futile, that Iran abandons the model it spent decades perfecting.
First, intelligence services must dismantle the proxy networks piece by piece. Smugglers, financiers, weapons engineers, and communications hubs—all must face relentless pressure. Track their movements. Cut their funding. Disrupt their supply chains. Not with caution—with aggression. This war must shift into Iran’s shadow world, and that world must burn.
Second, public diplomacy must shift into high gear. American and Israeli leaders must state clearly: Support for proxies means no deal, no sanctions relief, and no diplomatic legitimacy. Future nuclear talks must not compartmentalize Tehran’s war-by-proxy. The proxy model represents the operational arm of the Iranian threat. Disarming it remains non-negotiable.
Third, information warfare must attack legitimacy. Prior to the conflict, the regime projected itself as the guardian of resistance. Undermine that claim. Exploit the regime’s post-conflict weakness. Broadcast its inability to protect its own command centers. Show the proxies that their masters in Tehran no longer hold the power or credibility to lead. The West must fracture the myth from within and turn Tehran’s web of proxies into a web of disillusionment.
Treat every proxy attack as an Iranian attack.
Fourth—and most importantly—treat every proxy attack as an Iranian attack. Stop pretending that those who launched rockets from Sanaa or missiles from southern Lebanon operate independently; they do not. They follow Tehran’s orders. The response to such attacks must escalate—sanctions, cyber disruption, and if necessary, precision strikes on Iranian assets. Tehran must feel pain every time a proxy moves. Iran is the puppeteer. Cut the strings.
Critics may claim this task lies beyond reach, that smugglers cannot be stopped. Networks regenerate. Others could point to the costs proving too high, especially in the wake of recent military expenditures and depleted munitions. Finally, they can warn that punishing Iran for proxy actions risks reigniting the war. These objections rest on tired assumptions and ignore geopolitical momentum.
Yes, the United States and Israel must resupply. But that is the normal part of any refurbishment post-hostilities. And enhancing regional security through an aggressive anti-proxy campaign merely supports existing commitments. As the U.S. demonstrated with its bombing campaign against the Houthis, and its continuous resupply of Israel’s anti-missile interceptors, this anti-proxy campaign is already part of the broader ongoing mission.
Furthermore, costs can be shared. The Abraham Accords remain more than a diplomatic framework—they are a regional security opportunity. Expanding them means bringing more nations into the fold. In the wake of the twelve-day war, these nations are increasingly looking to secure the peace. Use that consensus to drive cooperation that helps tackle the proxy networks.
Drive the cost of aggression so high that even Iran’s ideologues feel it.
Finally, one must recognize that separating the nuclear program from the proxy issue during negotiations helped create the regional crisis in the first place. Tehran built its arsenal under the cover of Hezbollah. It tested its range through Houthi aggression. It gained leverage at every table by holding a proxy gun to someone else’s head.
Even now, destroying Iran’s nuclear capability but allowing its proxy apparatus to survive is like taking an RPG from an enemy’s hands but leaving him with an AK-47. He remains a threat. That cannot stand.
The allied victory in the air campaign shattered illusions. It exposed Tehran. Now comes the final phase: forcing submission. Drive the cost of aggression so high that even Iran’s ideologues feel it. Strip the network bare. Break the proxies. Only then can the U.S. and Israel solidify the new balance of power in the Middle East and carve it into something that endures beyond the current headlines.
