Anticipating attacks aimed at killing its leaders, Iran structured its military into 31 independent, self-sufficient divisions, one for each province. To win, an invading force must defeat all 31 units, neutralizing the common strategy of targeting central command.

Iran's military structure is intentionally decentralized, ensuring that if central leadership is eliminated, autonomous units can continue to operate based on pre-established directives. This resilience makes traditional 'decapitation strikes' less effective and prolongs conflict.

Engaging a military with a decentralized command structure is perilous because there's no central authority for negotiation. Even if leadership is neutralized, autonomous cells can continue fighting, creating an unwinnable "headless chicken" scenario where a ceasefire is impossible to implement.

Unlike regimes centered on a single dictator like Saddam Hussein, Iran's power structure is a complex, institutionalized relationship between its clerical and military establishments. This distributed power makes the regime resilient to 'decapitation' strikes aimed at killing senior leaders, as there is no single point of failure.

Despite facing conventionally superior US and Israeli forces that can degrade its missile and nuclear capabilities, Iran leverages low-cost asymmetric tactics like drone strikes. This strategy allows it to inflict continuous damage and prolong the conflict without needing to match its adversaries' military might.

Targeting senior leaders in regimes that operate on an irregular warfare model is a flawed strategy. These governments anticipate such attacks and have shadow leadership structures in place, ensuring operational continuity and rendering decapitation strikes futile.

Iran has anticipated leadership decapitation strikes for decades, building a resilient and distributed command and control infrastructure. This allows its forces, particularly the IRGC, to continue operating and launching attacks even without direct contact with headquarters.

Iran's strategy isn't a quick military victory but a war of attrition. By accepting a long timeline and inflicting small but consistent damage, it aims to erode US domestic support for the war, especially in an election year, and outlast the current administration.

Iran's military is split into 31 provincial commands with pre-authorized launch orders. This structure makes it resilient to leadership assassinations, as there's no central "kill switch," complicating any military exit strategy for opposing forces.