Nigeria, April 9 -- There is hardly any country on earth that could go to war with the United States of America and emerge untouched. Not Russia. Certainly not China. That Iran has managed not only to endure the weight of US and Israeli military pressure but also to remain standing as a consequential actor is itself one of the striking geopolitical triumphs of this moment.

That it could survive a country capable of invading a sovereign nation, abducting its president, and having him imprisoned within its own borders is a testimony for the century.

Iran has, of course, paid dearly in blood, infrastructure, and civilian suffering. But the losses have not been one-sided. The declared objective of the US-Israeli war was to degrade Iran's nu...