Iran is now Saddam post 1991. Sure Baathist still have power, but they are so weakened and under sanctions they aren’t a threat to their neighbors. Saddam ruled over a corpse of a nation.
IRGC + Elite are in similar shoes. The Islamic republic is still in power, but the are now so weakened they aren’t a true military threat in the region.
How many times is Iran going to rebuild these tunnels for the U.S. to just bomb?
The military losses are likely in the tens of billions of dollars and will eclipse 100B+ the longer the war goes on.
The corpse of the Air Force is being destroyed
And the best Iranian air defenses are no match for even US drones:
The nuclear program has been laying under rubble for a year.
Not sure how you think that Iran holds any cards to reverse these realities.
Iran’s deterrence was being able to turn the Middle East on fire with Hz, Iraq, Houthis, and Hamas. When it was in Syria it would have forced the US and Israel to fight an aerial war in 5 countries (Yemen, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon) which would be a lot harder for any air force on the planet and would strain their enemies. It would allow more missiles to be fired and air defenses to be able to handle the strain and it would result in the enemy’s shield letting plenty of projectiles thru.
Iran has none of what Solemani built. It’s the weakest it’s been in 15 years.