Amir-Reza Furdastan, head of the Strategic Research and Studies Center of the Iranian Army, admitted: “In the 12-day war, we were in complete shock and lost our ability to act.”

According to him, only the intervention of the Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, “awakened the forces” and brought them back on track.

Here too, the regime's usual method stands out: turning even an admission of military failure into a tool to glorify Khamenei's image and present him as the divine figure who saves the country in times of crisis.