It’s time to be careful, very, very careful. And it’s time not to let our domestic politics blind us. As the Iranians and their allies, the Chinese, see it, a new balance of power is taking over the world. And the United States is no longer the dominant superpower. Far from it. In fact, a Hezbollah official, Wafiqu Ṣafā, says that Iran is on its way to becoming the “Fourth Most Powerful Country in the world.”
As you already know, in the eyes of the Iranians, our president’s Memo of Understanding is a surrender, a “declaration of defeat.” You’ve heard that right. The Iranians believe that the United States has surrendered to Tehran. And that America has been utterly and completely humiliated. In fact, Al-Jazeera, the powerful international news outlet funded and directed by Qatar, ran a front page story Tuesday June 23 blaring America’s unconditional surrender in headlines.
President Donald Trump, on the other hand, says just the opposite. He declares that the MOU is the unconditional surrender of the Iranians to America.
What is actually happening?
The Great Game of global power is shifting. And our weapons and tactics may be obsolete. Our president tells us that the conventional Iranian navy—its warships—are at the bottom of the sea. But Iran has demonstrated that on the 1,749 miles of its coasts you don’t need battleships. All you need is swift boats, missiles and determination.
Al Qaeda made that point way back in 2000 with the swift boat attack that tore open the hull of the USS Cole and killed 17 American sailors. What’s more, our president tells us that Iran’s Air Force is gone. But Iran has proven that you may not need an air force when you have drones. Thousands and thousands of drones. It is said that Iran has produced 80,000 drones to date.
In fact, it’s just been made public that one of the two American airmen who went down over Iranian territory in April reported something he found frightening, a swarm of drones traveling in a jellyfish configuration. Enough drones so that if you took down as many as you could, there would still be a lethal number left.
The airman’s surprise and fear is a bad sign. China has been developing drone swarms for military use for over ten years. But the American airman was not trained to recognize and to bring down drone swarms. In other words, our military has not been keeping up.
Meanwhile the Iranians have massive drone and missile cities dug deep into their mountains. Underground, attack-proof cities where they manufacture and launch their drones.
Muddying the waters, up until a few days ago, our president said he wanted Iran to get rid of its missiles. All of them. Then he changed his mind and said that the Iranians needed to keep enough missiles to defend themselves.
We have two other missile problems. Missile problem number one is that some of Iran’s missiles can reach most of Europe’s capitals. Missile problem number two is that Iran announced on Wednesday June 24th that it will put a constellation of 24 satellites in orbit. The rocket it will use to pull this off is a step on the path to an ICBM, a rocket that will be able to nuke every city in the United States.
There is one positive in the midst of this MOU debacle. Our president told us two days ago that UN nuclear inspectors will once again be allowed in Iran’s nuclear facilities. It sounded like a fantasy. But the Iranian press told the world on Wednesday that it’s true.
Whether or not that should reassure us depends on what limitations are placed on these inspectors by Iran.
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About the author: Howard Bloom of the Howard Bloom Institute has been called the Einstein, Newton, Darwin, and Freud of the 21st century by Britain’s Channel 4 TV. Bloom’s new book is The Case of the Sexual Cosmos: Everything You Know About Nature is Wrong. Says Harvard’s Ellen Langer of The Case of the Sexual Cosmos, Bloom “argues that we are not savaging the earth as some would have it, but instead are growing the cosmos. A fascinating read.” One of Bloom’s eight previous books–Global Brain—was the subject of a symposium thrown by the Office of the Secretary of Defense including representatives from the State Department, the Energy Department, DARPA, IBM, and MIT. Bloom’s work has been published in The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Wired, Psychology Today, and the Scientific American. Not to mention in scientific journals like Biosystems, New Ideas in Psychology, and PhysicaPlus. Says Joseph Chilton Pearce, author of Evolution’s End and The Crack in the Cosmic Egg, “I have finished Howard Bloom’s [first two] books, The Lucifer Principle and Global Brain, in that order, and am seriously awed, near overwhelmed by the magnitude of what he has done. I never expected to see, in any form, from any sector, such an accomplishment. I doubt there is a stronger intellect than Bloom’s on the planet.” For more, see http://howardbloom.net or http://howardbloom.institute
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References
### Iranian State Media & Official Statements
“Iran Declares ‘Historic Victory’ over US, Says Enemy Forced to Accept Its Proposal.” *PressTV*, April 7, 2026. [https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2026/04/07/766472/iran-declares-historic-victory-enemy-forced-accept-its-proposal](https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2026/04/07/766472/iran-declares-historic-victory-enemy-forced-accept-its-proposal).
Kesic, Ivan. “Iran’s Orbital Game-Changer: Martyr Soleimani Constellation Heralds New Era of Indigenous Space Power.” *PressTV*, June 20, 2026. [https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2026/06/20/770792/iran-orbital-gamechanger-martyr-soleimani-constellation-heralds-new-era-space-power](https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2026/06/20/770792/iran-orbital-gamechanger-martyr-soleimani-constellation-heralds-new-era-space-power).
Qalibaf, Mohammad Bagher. “Qalibaf: Islamabad MoU Became Declaration of US Defeat.” *PressTV*, June 24, 2026. [https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2026/06/24/771007/Qalibaf–Islamabad-MoU-declaration-US-defeat](https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2026/06/24/771007/Qalibaf–Islamabad-MoU-declaration-US-defeat).
### Hezbollah Official (Wafiq Safa)
“Ḥizbullāh Official Wafiq Ṣafā: Our Doctrine Is to Prepare a Generation to Invade the Galilee; Iran Is on Its Way to Becoming the World’s Fourth Most Powerful Country.” *MEMRI TV*, Clip (June 18, 2026). [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uNh0xzBmJ8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uNh0xzBmJ8).
“WATCH: Hezbollah Official – ‘Iran on Its Way to Becoming Fourth Most Powerful Country’.” *World Israel News*, June 22, 2026. [https://worldisraelnews.com/watch-hezbollah-official-iran-on-its-way-to-becoming-fourth-most-powerful-country/](https://worldisraelnews.com/watch-hezbollah-official-iran-on-its-way-to-becoming-fourth-most-powerful-country/).
### Regional & International Coverage of Iranian Narrative
TOI World Desk. “Iran’s Qalibaf Calls US-Iran Agreement ‘America’s Declaration of Defeat’.” *Times of India*, June 24, 2026. [https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/irans-qalibaf-calls-us-iran-agreement-americas-declaration-of-defeat/articleshow/131961295.cms](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/irans-qalibaf-calls-us-iran-agreement-americas-declaration-of-defeat/articleshow/131961295.cms).
“Iran Calls Peace Deal ‘America’s Declaration of Defeat’.” *CGTN*, June 24, 2026. [https://newseu.cgtn.com/news/2026-06-24/Iran-calls-peace-deal-America-s-declaration-of-defeat–1OeZiX2VuMM](https://newseu.cgtn.com/news/2026-06-24/Iran-calls-peace-deal-America-s-declaration-of-defeat–1OeZiX2VuMM).
“US-Iran MoU a ‘Declaration of America’s Defeat,’ Says Tehran’s Chief Negotiator.” *JNS*, June 24, 2026. [https://www.jns.org/news/world/us-iran-mou-a-declaration-of-americas-defeat-says-tehrans-chief-negotiator](https://www.jns.org/news/world/us-iran-mou-a-declaration-of-americas-defeat-says-tehrans-chief-negotiator).
### Military & Technical Claims (Drones, Underground Facilities)
“Exclusive: Downed US Pilot Reported Seeing Iranian Drones Swarm in ‘Jellyfish’ Formation.” *CNN*, June 23, 2026. [https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/23/politics/iran-drones-f-15-pilot-intelligence](https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/23/politics/iran-drones-f-15-pilot-intelligence).
“This Is How Iran’s Underground Missile Cities Operate.” *Ynetnews*, April 4, 2026. [https://www.ynetnews.com/article/s1wpuzyhwl](https://www.ynetnews.com/article/s1wpuzyhwl).
“Iranian Underground Missile Bases.” *Wikipedia*, s.v. “Iranian underground missile bases” (accessed June 24, 2026). [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iranian_underground_missile_bases](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iranian_underground_missile_bases).
### Additional Supporting Sources
“Iran to Launch Light Satellites from Shahid Soleimani Constellation.” *Tehran Times*, September 23, 2025. [https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/518242/Iran-to-launch-light-satellites-from-Shahid-Soleimani-constellation](https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/518242/Iran-to-launch-light-satellites-from-Shahid-Soleimani-constellation).
“Iran Plans 2026–2027 Launch of the Martyr Soleimani Satellite Constellation.” *WANA*, February 1, 2026. [https://wanaen.com/iran-plans-2026-2027-launch-of-the-martyr-soleimani-satellite-constellation/](https://wanaen.com/iran-plans-2026-2027-launch-of-the-martyr-soleimani-satellite-constellation/).
Bajoghli, Narges, and Vali Nasr. “Iran’s New Grand Strategy: How a Remade Islamic Republic Will Reshape the Middle East.” *Foreign Affairs* 105, no. 4 (July/August 2026). [https://www.foreignaffairs.com/iran/irans-new-grand-strategy](https://www.foreignaffairs.com/iran/irans-new-grand-strategy).
“China Plans Postwar Aid for Iran with Eye on Energy Supply.” *Nikkei Asia*, June 24, 2026. [https://asia.nikkei.com/spotlight/iran-tensions/iran-war/china-plans-postwar-aid-for-iran-with-eye-on-energy-supply](https://www.google.com/search?q=https%3A%2F%2Fasia.nikkei.com%2Fspotlight%2Firan-tensions%2Firan-war%2Fchina-plans-postwar-aid-for-iran-with-eye-on-energy-supply).