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The US army absolutely dwarfs the Iranian army in terms of military might.

Realistically, Iran cannot attack mainland US, whereas the US could nuke Iran into oblivion at a moment's notice. They seem to be David and Goliath except Goliath has the sling. Does Iran actually have any ability to attack mainland US?

Glorfindel
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SeanJ
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    Comments deleted. Please don't use comments to answer the question. If you would like to answer, please write a proper answer which adheres to our quality standards. – Philipp Jan 05 '20 at 15:46
  • Iran takes notes lol – Andrew Jan 05 '20 at 22:59
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    Do you see a parallel to US x Vietnam? Just asking. – Quora Feans Jan 05 '20 at 23:43
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    Since OP tagged military, does it include terrorism threat and particularly Nuclear terrorism threat? – LuisTavares Jan 06 '20 at 03:09
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    The question in the title is quite different from the question in the body. Possibly, Iran could pose a threat to the US (for instance, to US bases, personnel and interests in Iraq or in Saudi Arabia, or against the Israelian ally) without being able to attack mainland US. – Evargalo Jan 06 '20 at 09:59
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    The title question and the question body do not match. Are you asking about Iranian threats to the U.S. mainland or Iranian threats to the U.S. in general? Iran has been regularly harassing U.S. naval vessels and shipping belonging to both the U.S. and its European allies in the very important Arabian Gulf and Straights of Hormuz shipping lanes for some time now, for example. There's a lot more of the world that's important to the U.S. than just the U.S. mainland. – reirab Jan 06 '20 at 17:10
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    The question in the title, and the question in the body are very different questions. – Sam I am says Reinstate Monica Jan 06 '20 at 17:17
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    I think you need to be more specific, there can be threats to US interests, threats to US soldiers and civilians station overseas, and threats to the US mainland. – David Waterworth Jan 07 '20 at 01:22
  • And threats to Trump properties, some of which are overseas and easily targetable – Mawg says reinstate Monica Jan 07 '20 at 07:30
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    Not a direct answer, but do check out Dan Carlin's long-form podcast series "Road To Armageddon", which explains how WW1 came along, in excrutiating detail. This will make it much more intuitive to reason about why or why not seeming "Davids" can pull "Goliaths" into war or similar situations. – AnoE Jan 07 '20 at 09:47
  • What threats were the original nations which lead the world into ww1? – marshal craft Jan 08 '20 at 02:17
  • Do you think the dog skipping in front of a family decides their life? Germany and France/ uk were to blame. – SeanJ Jan 08 '20 at 19:35

9 Answers9

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They don't need to be able to strike the US mainland directly. All they need to do is go to war with allies of the US in the region, and they have ample allies to hide behind

Iran says it is not behind Saturday's attacks on oil plants in Saudi Arabia, denying accusations from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that Tehran was responsible for "an unprecedented attack on the world's energy supply."

Or they could tie oil lanes up in the Strait of Hormuz

Tehran has promised to retaliate, and one place is particularly vulnerable: the Strait of Hormuz, off Iran's southern coast. The channel, which is only 21 miles wide at its narrowest point, is the only way to move oil from the Persian Gulf to the world's oceans. Last year, attacks on two ships — one carrying oil and the other transporting a cargo of chemicals — in the nearby Gulf of Oman caused a temporary surge in oil prices.

Remember, also, that the US has troops in Iraq, Qatar and Afghanistan. The Iranian Quds force has been effective in killing troops (via things like EFP IEDs) in such locations before. Terrorism could be how they hit the US back.

Machavity
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    How does going to war with US allies pose a threat to the US? Sure it would anger the US but is it a threat? – Ivana Jan 06 '20 at 13:23
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    @Ivana That's what military allies are for. US has a valuable asset to "sell" all over the world - the peace. You become an US ally, you pay some price (social, diplomatic, etc), you get peace. No peace, no allies. – fraxinus Jan 06 '20 at 13:41
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    @Ivana The US does not operate in isolation. It's arguable if the US needs a military presence worldwide, but it's also how the US has operated since WWII (see NATO). As such, we have strategic allies we rely on in the region . As such Iran directly targets those allies – Machavity Jan 06 '20 at 13:42
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    Ironically, I've seen people characterizing the attacks you cited as demonstrations of Iran's weakness. Their military efforts rarely had any lasting impact, and they would probably have been thwarted completely if we were in anything approaching a state of war with them. Different strokes for different folks, I guess. – bvoyelr Jan 06 '20 at 14:34
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    Iran can strike the US directly, at least coastal regions. It is possible to mount their short and intermediate range ballistic missiles on cargo ships (this has been experimented with decades ago) and launch them from offshore locations. Accuracy would be abysmal, but good enough to strike somewhere in a major city with similar effect to the German use of the V2 in WW2. They can also deploy chemical or dirty nuclear weapons in shipping containers and sail them right into US ports in a suicide style attack using again cargo ships. – jwenting Jan 07 '20 at 05:00
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    "The US does not operate in isolation" - but its president increasingly states a wish to do so, and treats allies in a such a manner that they might soon agree it to be a good idea (at least until another president comes along). "It's arguable if the US needs a military presence worldwide, but it's also how the US has operated since WWII (see NATO)" - which the US president constantly berates, belittles and threats to leave. Also, threatening war crimes does not endear allies to one's cause. – Mawg says reinstate Monica Jan 07 '20 at 07:34
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    Attacks on US troops after the US has committed an act of war against Iran would not be terrorism, but legitimate military action. – Mike Scott Jan 07 '20 at 10:17
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    Indeed, in this case it was the US that resorted to terror operations in violation of international law, so IMO the use of this sentence "Terrorism could be how they hit the US back." is not welcome in this context. – Arshia001 Jan 07 '20 at 11:27
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    @MawgsaysreinstateMonica It's hard to know exactly what Trump thinks about any given ally (except NATO, and that's all about funding in his mind). When Saudi Arabia assassinated Jamal Khashoggi, Trump rather notably dismissed it and even vetoed a bill that would have limited arms sales to the Saudis. Trumps view of the Middle East is not as cut and dried as people seem to think – Machavity Jan 07 '20 at 15:36
  • I believe there are US military in Kuwait, too – Radvylf Programs Jan 07 '20 at 18:45
  • @Ivana international relations between America and foreign countries (especially their allies) almost guarantees that at any given time there are american citizens in those countries for various purposes (business, tourism etc.) A large-scale attack on US allies (e.g. bombing) would almost certainly entail American citizen casualties. – Aubreal Jan 07 '20 at 21:16
  • @Machavity That does not matter much. The perception of Trump's thoughts is what matters. I found the statement from Mawg to be very succinct. – Stian Jan 08 '20 at 08:42
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Iran doesn't pose any threat to the US or its allies. The US, Israel and some of the Gulf countries see Iran as a threat because Iran is supporting certain militant groups that can pose a threat in case of an armed conflict. That Iran would (and currently does) pose a threat to the US when there are military tensions is a completely normal situation that would exist between the US and any other country.

For example, Iran funds Hezbollah, and Israel sees Hezbollah as a threat. Israel has fought wars in Lebanon and had to face Hezbollah there. But Hezbollah does not pose a direct threat to Israel under normal circumstances, despite charged rhetoric from both sides. Hezbollah does have a significant number of missiles, but it lacks the conventional military force to be able to invade Northern Israel. An unprovoked attack by Hezbollah doesn't make any military sense and would be swiftly defeated by Israel. Hezbollah's missile force only gives it a deterrence against an Israeli attack. So, it's this deterrence that Israel really objects against.

Just like Israel, the US and the Gulf countries also interpret obstacles to deployment of their military as a threat. The US blames Iran for the deaths of US soldiers in Iraq, not the decision to invade Iraq. Here we have to note that the Iranian decision to support Shia militants in their attacks on US forces was prompted by threats made by the US against the Iranian regime.

Iraq was invaded based on false WMD claims, and Iran was at the time falsely accused by the US of working on nuclear weapons (while the international community had raised verification issues with Iran's nuclear program, all of the original US accusations against the Iranian nuclear program have later been debunked). John Bolton made explicit threats that Iran's regime was the next on the US' target list, which made Iran support the Shia resistance to the US occupation of Iraq.

Saudi Arabia blames Iran for supporting the Houtis in Yemen, it doesn't consider its own decision to support one side in the civil war. Similarly the US and the Gulf countries blame Iran for having caused the defeat of the insurgents by Assad in Syria.

One may argue that Iran by supporting a particular side in a conflict acted outside international norms. However, almost all conflicts have significant third-party involvement - e.g. the US support for the Afghan Mujahedeen in the 1980s, the US support for UNITA in the Angolan civil war. The criticism against Iran is thus mostly about Iran being a player in world affairs fighting for interests that don't always align with those of the US and Israel. The threat posed by Iran is against the doctrine of some countries have that they should be able to conduct military operations with little resistance.

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Count Iblis
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  • Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat. – Sam I am says Reinstate Monica Jan 06 '20 at 17:17
  • After Iran bombed the oil refinery last year, the price of oil went up nearly 15%. Iran's actions have disrupted global oil trade a tremendous amount, billions of dollars. They are threatening 1/6th of the Earth's entire supply of oil. –  Jan 07 '20 at 02:58
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    @jgn Iran is resisting the illegal US sanctions. The US sanctions are aimed at undermining the JCPOA, but the JCPO is part of intentional law, therefore undermining it is an illegal act. For its survival Iran needs to be able to sell oil, military actions needed to secure that are therefore justified. This is thus a clear case where the threat is provoked by abnormal external circumstances. The threat does not exist under normal conditions where the US would behave in a normal way. – Count Iblis Jan 07 '20 at 03:54
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    @CountIblis So in other words, yes Iran does pose a huge threat. –  Jan 07 '20 at 03:57
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    @jgn I made it clear in my answer that I'm consider a state of normal relations. So, the US is imposing massive pressure on Iran, which is an abnormal situation under which any other country would behave in a similar way as Iran. So, the threat the US claims Iran poses is simply a consequence of its own pressure on Iran. – Count Iblis Jan 07 '20 at 08:19
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    @CountIblis You listed a whole bunch of ways that Iran is threatening. For example, Iran is fighting a proxy war with Israel through Hezbollah. You call that a threat, I call that a threat, everyone else calls that a threat. That means Iran must be a threat. You can't say "in my fantasy world XYZ", you should address reality too. –  Jan 07 '20 at 08:24
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    @jgn: You're completely blinded by US propaganda. Ever noticed how the "peace process" only ever stands for what's in the US interests and things like that? (If not, consider trying harder.) Count Iblis is basically spelling out the same thing. From the viewpoint of the US or some of its allies who want to bully other nations around, Iran is indeed a threat. But from the viewpoint of Iran and quite a few other countries, the actual threat is the US. – Denis de Bernardy Jan 07 '20 at 10:43
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    The assertion that "Hezbollah does not pose a direct threat to Israel" is ridiculous. Threat is not measured by the ability to overrun the land or overthrow the ruling government. Threat is measured by the ability to kill citizens and disrupt a peaceful way of life. By any measure, Hezbollah has that capacity. – dotancohen Jan 07 '20 at 18:18
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    @CountIblis JCPOA is not part of any sort of law as far as the U.S. has ever been concerned. The deal was never presented to Congress for ratification, nor did Congress ever ratify it. It was never a legal deal in the first place. Iran knew this very well, as did everyone else who paid literally any attention at all to it. Renouncing it is not illegal in any way because it was never a legal agreement in the first place. And saying that Hezbollah doesn't pose a threat to Israel is utterly absurd. They regularly fire rockets at Israeli cities and their leader threatened Haifa this week. – reirab Jan 07 '20 at 23:39
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    @DenisdeBernardy So in other words "Iran is a threat from the view of the west and almost every country on Earth", I think that is a valid answer. But I don't think "Iran is not a threat to the US or any of their allies" is valid. Not only are they a threat, but they have caused damage within the last few months. –  Jan 08 '20 at 00:43
  • @reirab Not US law, but the UNSC passed a Chapter 7 resolution making implementation part of international law with the ability to enforce it. In such a case, we never say that countries are allowed to not stick to such UNSC resolution because their domestic laws allow them to not do so. Take e.g. the previous UNSC resolution banning Iran from enriching uranium. Iran violated those and Iranian law made it actually compulsory for Iran to not stick to those UNSC resolutions. Nevertheless, violated international law, the US would obviously agree in that case. – Count Iblis Jan 08 '20 at 01:38
  • @dotancohen Many countries have that capability. One has to consider under what circumstances that capability would be exercised. And that involves having a dispute and using those capabilities to settle those disputes. Hezbollah disputes the very existence of Israel, but its missile capability is useless for it to do anything about that. Its only practical use is as a deterrent against an Israeli first strike. If Hezbollah strikes first, then their missiles won't deter an Israeli counterstrike. Hezbollah does not have the capability to create a fait accompli in a first strike. – Count Iblis Jan 08 '20 at 01:45
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    @jgn: Not quite. if you ask around in the world, you will find that the US is considered a much, much bigger threat to world peace than Iran. (And frankly, righty so.) See for instance https://brilliantmaps.com/threat-to-peace/ for a visualization. – Denis de Bernardy Jan 08 '20 at 04:23
  • @DenisdeBernardy That lists only the "biggest threat to peace", it does not list "all threats to peace", let alone "all threats". –  Jan 08 '20 at 04:24
  • @CountIblis Resolution 2231 Section 12 says that all of the previous sanctions go back into effect 30 days after the Security Council's receipt of a statement from any of the parties to JCPOA that one of the countries is not upholding its obligations under it. In March 2016, the U.S., U.K., France, and Germany made such a statement that Iran had conducted ballistic missile tests that violated the agreement (as it said it would before the agreement was even signed.) Thus, most of Resolution 2231 is null and void, including all of the portions that rescinded previous sanctions on Iran. – reirab Jan 08 '20 at 05:34
  • @CountIblis At any rate, Resolution 2231 only gave force to certain aspects of JCPOA, not the entire thing. It expressed support for the deal as a whole, but didn't give force to the deal as a whole. Ratifying it as a treaty would have done that, but that never happened (and the Obama administration knew that would never happen when signed it.) Since the Obama administration chose to pursue a deal that it knew Congress wouldn't ratify and just use executive power to abide by it, the Trump administration used the same power to stop abiding by it. That's what happens when you bypass Congress. – reirab Jan 08 '20 at 05:43
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An entity does not have to attack a country's mainland directly to pose a threat to that country. Nor does it have to use an army to carry out attacks.

As an example of the first, consider various wars against pirates throughout history*, such as the Barbary Wars or the British Navy's practice of impressment as a casus belli for the War of 1812, and as a contributing factor to the American Revolution.

For the second, we would certainly seem to have plenty of examples of attacks on US and other western targets, carried out with the encouragement, and arguably often with the direct or indirect support, of Iran.

Iran and its proxies have been attacking the US for over 40 years now, from the seizure and hostage taking in the US embassy** in Tehran to the recent attack on the Iraqi embassy. The Iranian government, from its public statements and overt & cover actions, obviously considers itself to be at war with the US, and indeed, with the West in general.

*Also wars against Carribean pirates and by the British in East Asia.

**An embassy's grounds are considered to be territory of the embassy's country, thus for instance Julian Assange was able to seek asylum in the Equadorian Embassy in London.

jamesqf
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    "An embassy's grounds are considered to be territory of the embassy's country" -- no they are not. – Radovan Garabík Jan 05 '20 at 20:35
  • @RadovanGarabík For the purposes of diplomacy, they are considered outside the host country's jurisdiction – Machavity Jan 05 '20 at 22:33
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    Jurisdiction and territory are not the same thing, though they almost always align. – Nij Jan 05 '20 at 23:35
  • It would be interesting to also list if and when the US attacked Iran during the last 40 years. – Eric Duminil Jan 06 '20 at 09:13
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    The Iranian government, (...) obviously considers itself to be at war (...) with the West in general. : I would disagree. Iran signed treaties with European countries (the nuclear deal of 2015 Trump dumped in 2018 being the most famous), does all its might to restore commercial links with Europe, and even Khamenei's rants threaten the US and Israel military, but no other Western country. – Evargalo Jan 06 '20 at 10:25
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    @Evargalo: Yet Iran directly and indirectly supports groups that carry out attacks against European targets (and non-Islamic ones elsewhere in the world). – jamesqf Jan 06 '20 at 17:05
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    @Evargalo Iran and its proxy forces have attacked a Panamanian-flagged ship operated by the Japanese, a Marshall Islands-flagged ship operated by a Norwegian company, a British oil tanker, and probably at least 4 other ships belonging to various other countries that aren't the U.S. or Israel just in the last year. There was also at least one other failed attempt to attack a British tanker (thwarted by a British escort frigate.) – reirab Jan 06 '20 at 17:33
  • The saudi affiliates attacked and killed more americans and the iranians took more hostages and blocked boats. – bandybabboon Jan 07 '20 at 05:38
  • @Radovan Garabík: As a practical matter, they are, else why did the British police not simply enter the Equadorian Embassy to arrest Assange? I am not a lawyer, and am neither qualified nor inclined to write a long, boring treatise on the minutae of international law :-) – jamesqf Jan 07 '20 at 18:56
  • @jamesqf once you start entering other countries embassies and arresting people, all your embassies and diplomats are at risk. – Caleth Jan 08 '20 at 12:32
  • @Caleth: Yes, that was my point. The Iranians were willing to seize the US embassy, not just to arrest a wanted fugitive, but to hold the diplomatic staff hostage. – jamesqf Jan 09 '20 at 17:15
  • @jamesqf That was directed at your comment about Assange & the Equadorian Embassy, not about Iran. Viz the UK government saw following the Vienna Convention as a net positive. – Caleth Jan 09 '20 at 17:36
  • @Caleth: Yes, the UK government, like most countries, saw following diplomatic norms as a net positive. The Iranian government did not, and does not. – jamesqf Jan 10 '20 at 19:52
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No direct threat.

Iran's military is much like the Soviet military pre WW2. The capable leaders either left or were executed, and it is now run by people selected more with an eye towards compliance with the theocracy than military capability. The few 'advanced capability' weapons Iran touts have turned out to be mockups or clumsy photoshop jobs.

This is the same military that couldn't defeat Iraq, a country 1/3 the size and population of Iran, in 8 years of war. The same Iraq military that the coalition dismantled in 72 hours.

Lately, the Israeli Air Force had no problem attacking Iranian units in Syria.

Iran did pull off a cruise missile attack on Saudi Arabia recently, but now that the region is alerted to Iran's willingness to employ this weapon without warning, countermeasures have been put in place. Another attempt at a cruise missile attack will not only be shot down, but deliver the location of the launches and a valid reason to counterattack.

Iran can use terrorist methods to lash out, and probably see an initial surprise or two. But, once all nations are alerted to a sovereign state employing terrorist methods, Iran will see little success.

Iran can also seek to close the Strait of Hormuz by attacking oil tankers, to disrupt the global economy. If it attempts this, it will be opposed by every major power that depends on those oil shipments for economic stability, and see its financial situation collapse as not only the US but the EU shut down its financial transactions.

So, yes, Iran can cause trouble for quite a few nations, but not for long.

We must also keep in mind that Iran has been wracked with internal protests for quite some time - the latest uprisings are just a continuation of protests that date back over 15 years. The Iranian people have demonstrated that not only do a large number of them disapprove of their government, they are willing to face harsh measures to voice that disapproval. Any further degradation of their lives could increase the volume and intensity of the protests, bringing the current theocracy down.

That possibility will limit what the current Iranian government is willing to undertake, and expect to survive.

tj1000
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    "This is the same military that couldn't defeat Iraq, a country 1/3 the size and population of Iran, in 8 years of war. "

    Based on this logic and statement, does it mean the US military is also not as strong as advertised since they failed in Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq?

     – Ojonugwa Jude Ochalifu Jan 06 '20 at 11:40
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    *Iran's military is much like the Soviet military pre WW2*. So, much like the force that wiped out EU v0.01alpha in the end? That doesn't sound very reassuring. – Oleg V. Volkov Jan 06 '20 at 16:52
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    Pre invasion Soviet army was a shambles... Germany ripped through it, took a few million prisoners. Within a year, it had become an effective fighting force, with some help from General Winter. In two years, it was unstoppable. An amazing feat. – tj1000 Jan 07 '20 at 08:25
  • @tj1000 Also some help from Germany's lack of resources, vastly over-extended supply lines, complete lack of preparation for winter in Russia, being massively outnumbered by the Soviets, and inability to keep up with the combined war materiel production capacity of the Soviet Union, United Kingdom, and United States. And Germany's certifiably insane leader who liked to meddle in military affairs. – reirab Jan 08 '20 at 05:50
  • Re Soviet army pre-WWII: I believe it was mostly the Winter and Continuation Wars with Finland that alerted the Soviets that a reform of the army and command structures was necessary. – Jan Jan 08 '20 at 08:46
  • Re entire answer: Do you see a parallel to US x Vietnam? Just asking. – Jan Jan 08 '20 at 08:47
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The threat to the USA is minimally military: it's cultural, economic and partisan.

It's like giving feuding children some knives and guns in lieu of borough reforms and trade agreements... then accusing one child as "a bad one/a threat". The query of "Iran's threat" requires geopolitical/social context. Let's not forget that Chevron, Exxon and Emerson made bids for Iraq's oil fields and that the US spent 3 trillion on a war on Iran's neighbor and stoked global Wahhabi regimes.

Iran is the ace of spades in the republican "foreign threat" news system, whereas Russia is favored by the Democrats.

If there is peace with Iran, the Republicans lose their media story of "foreign threat", whereas the Democrats see a peaceful Iran as the key to stability in the Orient. The US needs to attack Iran for its own internal political media.

Iran has armed Kurds and Yemenis (poor minorities), and fomented Hesbollah. The US has spent 3 trillion dollars on war, asymmetrically armed all of the Orient, encouraged global wahhabism via Saudis, encouraged Israel. The USA has ignored the development of the region's middle class, culture and education.

Saudi Arabia poses more of a threat to America, as demonstrated by Wahhabi actions of 9/11, Isis and Afghanistan, whereas Iran has moved to pacify ISIS and has no choice but to combat the threat posed by the USA and Saudi Arabia.

With 3 Trillion dollars of military action and institutional debasement that have stoked 15 million refugees onto Iran and Europe, I'd use irony to parallel your question: "What threat does a child pose to their sodomist?", with the United states being an abusive presence in the backwards and treacherous family of nations of the Orient. ISIS versus Hesbollah is an illustration of the analogy.

The USA represents a good ally for Muslims as a potential relief from division and violence. The US can pacify the Orient by obliging trade agreements in between Iran and SA and modernizing Iran to help it achieve a middle class and a peaceful transition.

The USA, Israel and Saudi Arabia's escalations of violence are a regional threat in the middle east and to all of Europe, while Iran has pacified ISIS and created a more favorable climate for Exxon, Chevron and Emerson to operate in Iraq.

By destabilizing Iraq and Libya and strengthening Saudi Arabia, the USA debases a house of cards which causes millions of refugees to flee to Europe. The USA is a threat to itself more than Iran, and to the EU.

The multi-trillion sponsorship of radical ideologies like Saudi Arabia fanaticism and Israeli ownership of Golan causes tangible violent results when paired with a 3 trillion war against Saddam, compared to Iran's ideologies which have more in common Turkish nationalism than global wahhabism.

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bandybabboon
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  • After Iran bombed the oil refinery last year, the price of oil went up nearly 15%. Iran's actions have disrupted global oil trade a tremendous amount, billions of dollars. They are threatening 1/6th of the Earth's entire supply of oil –  Jan 07 '20 at 02:59
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    If you were an oil company lobby, middle east tensions inflate the sales prices. It's Iran's economic threat to the opec distribution conventions. Isreal also acts outside of international law and expands militarily, which kills EU citizens and provokes local enmities in large numbers. – bandybabboon Jan 07 '20 at 05:42
  • "Iran has pacified ISIS" - Source? – smcs Jan 07 '20 at 16:29
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    American commentators stated that Qasem Soleimani was "leading Iraq's military strategy against ISIL"... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qasem_Soleimani#War_against_ISIS_in_Iraq ... https://theintercept.com/2019/11/18/iran-isis-iraq-kurds/ ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_military_intervention_against_ISIL#Iranian_intervention – bandybabboon Jan 07 '20 at 21:53
  • @paulj Oil shortage causes vast damage across the world. You can think that holding the world's oil supply hostage is bad while also condemning bombing of Sanaa etc. –  Jan 08 '20 at 00:44
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Iran could launch a cyberattack and has a history of reputably doing so.

Quoting a recent Washington Post article (https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/01/03/cyber-attack-should-be-expected-us-strike-iranian-leader-sparks-fears-major-digital-disruption/):

Iran’s cyber troops long have been among the world’s most capable and aggressive — disrupting banking, hacking oil companies, even trying to take control of a dam from afar — while typically stopping short of the most crippling possible actions, say experts on the country’s capabilities.

But Friday’s American airstrike that killed one of Iran’s top generals, Quds Force Commander Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, now threatens to unleash a fully unshackled Iranian response, analysts and former U.S. officials warned. They said a variety of potential cyberattacks, possibly in conjunction with more traditional forms of lethal action, would be well within the digital arsenal of a nation that has vowed “severe revenge.”

“At this point, a cyberattack should be expected,” said Jon Bateman, a former Defense Intelligence Agency analyst on Iran’s cyber capabilities and now a cybersecurity fellow for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

The range of possible tactics is long: The Iranians can overwhelm computerized systems to snarl business operations, as they did to U.S. banks from 2011 to 2013. They can also use malicious software to wipe out data, as government officials said they did in 2014 to the Las Vegas Sands casino, whose staunchly pro-Israel owner Sheldon Adelson had suggested the United States drop nuclear bombs on Iran.

Update: [Texas] Gov. Greg Abbott reports rise in cyber-attacks from Iran

qwr
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While the other answers are great, especially Count Iblis's which is spot on, there are two important avenues that Iran could pursue:

  1. Collecting Syrian, Iranian and Iraqi oil/gas to export in non USD denomination with a view to expansion of an economic alliance in the region.

  2. Embracing a military alliance with Russia.

Both may be pursued together.

The entire purpose of US presence in the Middle East is to ensure oil revenues are tied to OPEC commitments to trade energy exclusively in USD. The Sunni (Saudi etc) commitment to trade all oil for US paper means Sunni powers swap that paper for hundreds of billions of dollars worth of US military hardware, keeping the US domestic industry afloat, while also ensuring that central banks around the world maintain USD reserves in sufficient quantities to power nation state energy needs. Any economic attack on this dollar hegemony has thus far been met with overt and covert offensive (Venezuela, Russia, Iraq, libya etc).

The Sunni/US alliance seeks to ensure that Sunnis gain control of middle East energy by promising the USD its oil prop and in return getting US military hardware and direct backing. This is the geopolitical purpose of destroying Iraq, Libya, Syria, Iran.

Russia halted this process by deploying its military in Syria, destroying ISIS, and evicting foreign military.

By threatening Iran or attempting to destabilise Iran in a similar way to Syria, the US/Sunni alliance risks a Russian intervention in Iran.

If this were to happen you would see a Russian alliance form in the region that would be unstoppable if it decided to trade energy in EUR rouble or yuan.

This indirect attack vector of subsuming Iranian Syrian and Iraqi energy exports into a nascent Russian/local energy block would be enough to hurt the US badly.

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    This claim has often been made, rarely been proven. And in fact Iran's largest oil customer is China, not exactly a friend of the US either. As for trading oil in EUR; that doesn't really matter. Oil/USD is set by the free market, as is USD/EUR and therefore Oil/EUR. The Yuan is not free-floating; that's another matter altogether. – MSalters Jan 06 '20 at 15:11
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    @MSalters No this is not correct. Oil/USD price as of today was set primarily by the assassination of an Iranian general. The free market had nothing to do with it. The Oil/USD OPEC link is without any question of a doubt an essential underpinning to the USD value. Losing the Middle East to the EUR Rouble or Yuan is not something the US is about to let happen. – Frank Jan 06 '20 at 15:48
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    @Frank: That is a rather strange objection. The "free market" is a market where supply and demand drive prices; the assassination drives fears that unrest in the Middle East will negatively affect the oil supply. That drives prices up. Also note that the price of Oil in EUR went up today as well - of course, since it's the oil that's affected. – MSalters Jan 06 '20 at 16:12
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    @MSalters What Frank means is this fear is being created to drive the "free-market" as cattle. while there's a market demand an "oiligarchy" controls supply. – jean Jan 06 '20 at 16:15
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    @MSalters OPEC is an internationally recognized and accepted cartel. The remainder of the supply side belong to nation states who also regulate the supply according to their own interests. The demand side for oil, given that a handful of corporates produce nearly everything and companies like Tesla are considered maverick , and that central banks/nation states need to own USD to pay for energy, is obviously about as free as a Saudi housewife on a hot day. – Frank Jan 06 '20 at 16:21
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    This is a pretty good conspiracy theory. You need to add the name "Rothschild" to make it perfect. – RedSonja Jan 07 '20 at 07:44
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    I think many answers here are contaminated by decades of propaganda and miss the point it's not a nation threatening another but more a power game. This seems one sensate answer. – jean Jan 07 '20 at 20:05
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Nukes are largely discounted for now, since bombing a city would kill far more civilians than military targets—it's a huge war crime and would be absolutely condemned by the UN/the world.

In terms of resources, USA has more, but (like the Vietnam war) it could be a huge cost to attack Iran. Also note that Iran has the same population (and more land) as Germany, which seemed a big enough threat 80 years ago.

I don't think Iran could invade/conquer USA, but I definitely see trillions of dollars (which USA doesn't have) and countless lives wasted with no gain.

Another perspective is terror attacks like 9/11. Do you consider that a "threat"? Statistically, losing a few hundred lives compared to 300 million is nothing. But that event shook the world. Waging war with Iran might incite similar attacks.

Mirror318
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    I think you touch on some good points here, but you very briefly touch on them before stepping to the next. It's certainly a complicated situation but many of the points are nuanced (the knives are sharp, but they're double-edged). Also try to add references, I think a lot of comparisons can be supported by referring to the Iran-Iraq war which saw over a trillion dollar in economic losses and hundreds of thousands dead. – JJJ Jan 07 '20 at 10:27
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Iran does not pose a conventional military threat to the USA directly, but they certainly have the means to pose an unconventional threat.

Put a large chemical or dirty nuclear bomb in a shipping container and sail it into a US port using a false flagged cargo ship and you strike a major blow right there.

Or, somewhat more advanced and potentially survivable for the crew, mount a couple of ballistic missile launch trucks on the deck of a cargo ship, hidden inside fake shipping containers for camouflage, and launch them at US cities from outside US territorial waters. Accuracy would be poor, but the effect on the cities so struck would be like what happened during German V2 attacks on London in WW2. It'd be more a propaganda coup than a military victory, but just see what the Doolittle raid did for morale in the US after Pearl Harbour (and this missile attack may well do more damage than Doolittle ever did).

Iran also has some reasonably advanced submarines and can use them to attack shipping in the Gulf of Aden, including US warships and cargo/tanker ships. Won't do much to harm the US as a percentage of their total economy, but again it's something.

And Iran as a sponsor and perpetrator of international terrorism is no stranger to aircraft hijacking, car bombs, etc. etc. and given the porous nature of the US border it's not that hard to infiltrate cells into the country and strike pretty much at will.

jwenting
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    We looking for answers but I'm sorry to say you provided a hypothetical scenario more suitable for a Die-hard movie – jean Jan 07 '20 at 20:12
  • @jean hypothetical scenarios based on theoretical capabilities (and the things I mention have all been tested by various nations in the past) are all you will ever get unless and until someone actually tries to execute them for real. – jwenting Jan 08 '20 at 04:37
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    Make my wording don't carry the right tune. Take it as constructive criticism. I thank you to take your time to try to improve the discussion but keep in mind we are trying to make a mature discussion and based on facts. The fact is even you or me can learn how to make a bomb and succeed to make an attack but we are not a threat to the government nor big actor in geopolitics. – jean Jan 08 '20 at 16:06