AI Has Enhanced Iran’s Asymmetric Playbook During the 2026 Conflict
Brief
Executive Summary
Between January and June 2026, Tehran survived unprecedented military, economic, and political pressure by relying on its longstanding hybrid warfare model: blending asymmetric military operations, cyber operations, information warfare, proxy attacks, and coercive state control.
Artificial intelligence (AI) enhanced these capabilities, acting as a force multiplier and almost certainly increasing the speed, scale, and effectiveness of Iranian operations. Ultimately, Iran demonstrated that its strategic resilience does not depend on possessing the most advanced AI capabilities; rather, the source of Iranian power remains the asymmetric playbook itself.
During these crises, Iran compensated for conventional military and economic disadvantages through scalable, low-cost, and deniable asymmetric capabilities.