Tehran needs to be clear eyed that those Persian empire war stories belong in the archives and history books; and that the reality of today is an antithesis of what it was then. That the days of amassed armies across land borders, firing mortars and poisoned arrows back and forth against each other, is since long gone. A matter made more pronounced because there is no territorial dispute between them and America that will need to be conquered and won. That America has no interest in capturing and taking possession of or occupying Iran; nor in any nation building or stabilization of a post war Iran. That should war break out, the United States military campaign objective will be quite different from both Iraq and Afghanistan. That it will be to swiftly conclude the hostilities and at the least cost, financial and casualty, to America. Everything conventional, which American military has, will be thrown forward at Iran to destroy whatever Iran may have and in order to deprive them the will to carry on.
ICHEOKU says any war between America and Iran will be so quick and with such an overwhelmingly force that Iran will be devastated, such that if Iraq saw shock and awe, Iran will witness a dumbfounding paralysis of the entire Iranian labyrinth of existence as a society. Unlike Iraq and Afghanistan where targets were specifically sought out and carefully targeted, Iran will suffer destruction far greater than Operation Delta Freedom inflicted on Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 90s. Such a war will be mostly airborne including bombs, missiles and strafing bullets and Iran will not have an answer to the saturation of their airspace with incoming. It will a greatly skewed war in favor of America with its incalculable air superiority over any country in the world.
It does not matter how well trained, equipped and prepared the Quds Force might be, but no army can effectively wage a military campaign without proven logistics and air support. Any mobilized army will need air cover, open resupply route for sustenance and military hardwares; as well as the capacity to quickly evacuate wounded and dead soldiers. How does Iran plan for these contingencies or would they just commit a mass suicide, being sitting ducks for American sorties and missiles?
Although, there is a very remote possibility that American and Iranian ground forces will ever face each other should war break, except of course Iran decides to invade an American asset including embassies and stationed troops in other countries. If Iran instead decides to attack an American ally such as Saudi Arabia, Israel or Jordan, such country's army will be the bulwark of any defense and offense against the invading Iranian forces, with American military providing air support and covering their rear.
Also, since America is such a long way from Iran and Iran lacks the military capabilities to marshal their army to American homeland, their only option is to target American assets in the Middle East and then Europe by proxy of their terrorists. They might be successful with a few strikes, but the reprisal attacks will be so devastating for Iran that they would wish they never called America's bluff. Overall, it will be a very bad trade off which no sensible, reasonable and responsible country would ever want to deal.
That being said, America will not let the war linger on for too long nor needlessly bog America troops down in the Middle East. Every effort will be made to force the Iranian army and their government to a quickly surrender; after which America will then spell out the terms of surrender. It happened with Germany; it happened with Japan and it happened with Saddam Hussein's Iraq; so, Iran will not be any different. This is a country which couldn't defeat Iraq under Saddam Hussein but now thinks itself a "super" power, constantly wagging their finger at America.
ICHEOKU says in as much as nobody wants another war in that region, but a war with Iran is somewhat tempting and needs to be fought and decisively won, in order to finally resolve the superiority contest which has been brewing within the Iranians. They have been begging for a smack down since 1979 and this might be a good time to indulge them and permanently put them in their place for good. Their petulance is becoming simply unbearable and the more they get away with stuff, the more they become more emboldened.
Libya's Moummar Gaddafi back in the 80s used to be a pain in the butt of the world until President Ronald Reagan sent a missile into his bedroom. That was his first rude awakening, which nightmare he never fully recovered from until his problem was eventually permanently solved, lynched like a common thief. Saddam Hussein's Iraq problem was equally solved, when he was hung like a common criminal. So why is it not a good idea to once and for all solve the recurring Iranian problem, should they now present America with the opportunity.
So, the only meaningful option left for Iran is for them to cut their losses, back down and back off from any further provocations; realizing that President Donald John Trump is a different kind of president. That his love for America is such that if Iran miscalculates, they will force his hands to do whatever it takes to end their endless provocations. As a businessman and CEO, problem solving is President Donald John Trump's primary calling; and he sees Iran as a recurring problem since 1979 which needs to be finally solved. Hopefully, the president will solve the Iranian problem if the leadership in Tehran does not recalibrate by backing down from the current standoff. As a double puncher, the president will not accept anything short of a total surrender from Iran, should any shooting war results.
Iran has nothing to prove and cannot prove anything to America. The balance of power dictates that they stop any further aggressive behavior and save themselves from an assured doom. It will rain down heavy on them from the skies and not even their Prophet Imam Ali can save them from such provoked wrath of the United States of America's mighty military. Hopefully reason will prevail, believing that their leadership has some wisdom and will weigh the pros and cons carefully before leading their country down the precipice and off the cliff. But in any event, a needless tit for tat must not be encouraged as such leads to avoidable bleeding of resources.
If Iran dares, a decisive and swift decapitation of its entire leadership, political, military and religious will be in play immediately, in order to discourage any further stupidity from whoever may survive and remains after that. Iran must therefore choose wisely and not risk it all with further provocations; aware that there is a pecking order in the world and that Iran does not belong in the first tier, regardless of what they might think of themselves. Iran is still a third rate "shitholey" country and they cannot stand America's fury. Enough of the provocations.