US-Iran Conflict Shifts to Hybrid Warfare and Internal Destabilization, Says Expert

TEHRAN, August 4. /TASS/. The conflict between the US and Iran has taken on a new, more complicated form, with Washington making the internal destabilization of the Islamic Republic its primary objective, Oleg Akulinichev, deputy chairman of the Russian-Iranian Business Council at the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, scholar and diplomat, said in an interview with TASS.

"The failure of the military strategy does not mean that Iran’s adversaries have abandoned their intentions. The conflict, like all such wars, is multifaceted. Hybrid warfare tools are now coming to the fore, with their goal being not so much the military defeat of Iran as its internal destabilization," he said, adding that "the situation resembles a chess match," with each side currently seeking new, creative, and unconventional ways to exert pressure on the other.

The war has not ended, it has simply shifted to a new phase of fierce military, diplomatic, and informational maneuvering, with each side attempting to impose its own version of how the conflict should unfold, the expert said. "Underlying this diplomatic game is a fundamental reality: while the strategic goals of the US and Israel may not have been achieved during the period of active hostilities, they remain unchanged," he stressed. That said, both sides have gone too far to simply back down, yet are too exhausted to continue a full-scale war, Akulinichev added.

Earlier, US President Donald Trump announced that the United States and Iran would move to negotiations on a peace deal on August 3. Additionally, Trump wrote on Truth Social that he had agreed to call off a planned massive strike on the Islamic Republic in order to reach a deal with Tehran.

The United States and Israel launched a war against Iran on February 28. In June, Washington and Tehran, with Islamabad acting as mediator, signed a memorandum of understanding calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities on all fronts, including in Lebanon. However, on the night of July 8, the United States resumed large-scale strikes against Iran, accusing it of violating the terms of the agreement on the Strait of Hormuz.