General · 12 March 2026
Explained: How Iran's 'Mosaic Defence' Sustains War After Leadership Loss
Iran's "decentralised mosaic defence" doctrine is designed to ensure its military can continue fighting even after losing senior commanders or centralised control. This strategy, refined over two decades, makes the command system difficult to dismantle and the battlefield hard to resolve quickly. By spreading conflict across time and geography, Iran's "war machine" can run on autopilot, allowing operations to persist despite the death of a leader and the elevation of an injured successor.
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