by M.K.Sudarshan
Chennai, India
June 19, 2026
Since 1954 until today — I found myself this morning silently wondering — what could be the ratio and/or aggregate numbers of Iranian lives killed by American/Israeli military strikes to American/Israeli lives that were killed by Iranian military and/or terrorist strikes?
An AI prompt I typed in at once returned to me the following mind-boggling nuggets of information:
1954–1979 gap: No major U.S. or Israeli military strikes on Iranian territory occurred during this period. The first significant Iranian attacks on Americans began after the 1979 Islamic Revolution (Embassy takeover, Beirut bombings).
No aggregated historical total: Sources like the Foundation for Defense of Democracies track Iranian-backed attacks against Americans from 1979–present but don’t provide a single cumulative death toll.
Key Insight
The Iran-Iraq War dominates the Iranian death toll (~97% of all Iranian deaths). Without it, the ratio would still be as high as ~4–5:1. With it included, the ratio becomes ~200–220:1, reflecting that the vast majority of Iranian deaths came from Iraq (not directly from US/Israeli strikes), although the US and Israel did fully aid, encourage and support Iraq during that conflict.
US Support to Iraq During the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988)
The United States provided significant but covert support to Iraq during the war, primarily through:
- Diplomatic Support: The US maintained diplomatic relations with Iraq and opposed Iranian revolutionary influence in the region.
- Agricultural Credits: Through the USDA’s Commodity Credit Program, the US provided Iraq with billions in credits to purchase American agricultural products (cotton, wheat, corn), which freed up Saddam Hussein’s oil revenues for military spending.
- Dual-Use Technology: The US exported “dual-use” technologies (equipment that could be used for both civilian and military purposes) including:
• Helicopters (which Iraq used for military transport)
• Chemical weapons precursors and equipment
• Computer systems
• Industrial machinery - Intelligence Sharing: The US provided Iraq with satellite imagery and intelligence about Iranian military movements, particularly after 1982 when Iran began counteroffensives.
- Releasing Iraq from Terrorism List: In 1982, the US removed Iraq from the list of state sponsors of terrorism, facilitating arms sales.
And here’s the real surprise, surprise !
Israel actually supported Iran during the Iran-Iraq War, not Iraq! This is well-documented:
• Israel was one of the main suppliers of military equipment to Iran during the war
• Israel provided military instructors to Iran
• This continued the pre-1979 pattern of Israeli-Iranian military cooperation
• The US allowed Israel to support Iran because both opposed Saddam Hussein’s expansion.
Israel’s support for Iran was strategic: they wanted to keep Iran and Iraq fighting each other to prevent either from becoming dominant, and particularly to prevent Iraq from becoming too powerful.
The US and Israel thus collaborated on different positions: US supported Iraq (covertly), while Israel supported Iran (openly) but both had the same strategic objective: to keep West Asia mired in internecine warfare so American-Israeli hegemony prevailed and could control the energy supply-sources of the entire region.
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Fast forward to today June 19, 2026.
American House Congressmen and Senators are shell-shocked and traumatised by the disastrous outcome of the Feb-28-June 16th 2026 war that America and Israel together waged against Iran.
The Trump-Ayatollah Memorandum of Understanding for Peace (or Ceasefire) signed yesterday at the G-7 Summit Meeting held in France is being condemned in America as a “defeat”, “capitulation” and “epic foreign policy disaster” for the entire West. The Infograph below encapsulates the deep trauma felt by Americans:
Now, the above Infographic accurately represents America’s “shell-shocked” perspective. What about the Iranian perspective ?
Here is how the key categories would be represented from Iran’s perspective:
Financial Assets and Sanctions
- Unfrozen Assets: Viewed not as a concession or gift, but as the rightful return of stolen Iranian wealth illegally frozen by Western banking systems.
- Sanctions: Framed as “economic warfare” and unilateral collective punishment against the Iranian civilian population, rather than a legitimate foreign policy tool.
- Additional Costs: Replaced with metrics tracking the domestic growth of Iran’s “resistance economy,” emphasizing self-sufficiency and trade non-reliance on the West.
Nuclear Program and Sovereignty
- Uranium Stockpile & Enrichment: Viewed through the lens of national scientific achievement and energy independence.
- The JCPOA (2015): Framed as a major compromise where Iran voluntarily restricted its legal, peaceful nuclear rights under the NPT (Non-Proliferation Treaty) in exchange for economic relief that the West ultimately failed to deliver.
- “No Agreement” Era: Represented as a necessary, sovereign response to the American breach of the 2015 deal, demonstrating that Iran will not negotiate under coercion.
Regional Influence and Security
- Hormuz Strait: Maintained as an area of vital national sovereignty. Any tolls or controls would be framed as legitimate maritime policing, security maintenance, and defense against foreign military encroachment.
- Geopolitical Risk: The primary risk factor would be identified as American military presence and Western interventionism in the Middle East, which Iran views as the root cause of regional instability.
- Weapons Stockpile: Reframed from “depleted” to “domestically advanced,” highlighting the self-reliant growth of Iran’s missile technology and drone programs as a successful deterrent against foreign aggression.
Human and Economic Impact
- Lives and Injuries: Focus would shift entirely to Iranian casualties resulting from Western-backed regional conflicts, assassinations of scientists and military leaders, and the humanitarian impact of medical shortages caused by economic sanctions. Iran feels rather avenged at last for the tragic “Killing Ratio” suffered between 1980 and till date inflicted upon it by America and Israel : 220 Iranian deaths for every single American-Israeli life killed in war, assassinations and targeted drone attacks.
- Wage Growth & Economy: Economic hardships would be attributed directly to American “maximum pressure” campaigns, while survival and recovery would be credited to domestic resilience and pivoting trade toward eastern allies like China and Russia.
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Now, to state the long and short of the entire story, here is a TAILPIECE I want to sign off with:
Yes, Donald Trump has made a fool of himself and of America too today… He has been played by Israel and Netanyahu, Mossad & Co.
Still, I would say, Trump deserves a bit of credit … To realise one has blundered and to come to one’s senses and then to retreat in some way or the other without lashing out further in mad desperation …. That, to my mind, too requires some amount of personal courage .
Yes, Trump has suffered defeat, humiliation and humbling … but it’s better that US Congressmen and Senators and American mainstream and social media do not all go on rubbing salt into his wound….
Taking a larger picture view of what has happened — and for the sake of world peace and sanity — it would be better for Trump’s critics in America, and outside, to just please leave him alone to introspect and lick his wounds in peace.
The rest of the world has suffered much from nearly 100 days of Trump’s mercurial/pathological nature. The world must give him the benefit of doubt now that he will not suddenly revert to his old malevolent unpredictability … if the world, and America, really wants to save itself from Donald Trump during the rest of his Presidency until 2029.
(Concluded)
Sudarshan Madabushi