Iran war becomes a contest of who can take the most pain
JON GAMBRELL
Associated Press
ASSOCIATED PRESS, QATAR NEWS AGENCY, IRAN RED CRESCENT
The ongoing Israeli-American war on Iran, for all its complexity and global effects, boils down to a single question: Who can take the pain the longest? A surge in oil prices points to what may be Iran’s most effective weapon and the United States’ biggest vulnerability in continuing the cam…
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The war with Iran, for all its complexity and global effects, boils down to a single question: Who can take the pain the longest?
People gather at a rally to support Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, the successor to his late father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as supreme leader, in Tehran, Iran, March 9.
Police officers stand on top of their car with pictures of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, right and left, and his son Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, his successor, center, during a rally in support of him in Tehran, Iran, March 9.
Photos from Iran, Israel and Lebanon in the 2nd week of the Iran war
Smoke rise from an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, at sunset in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Bilal Hussein
A boy runs inside cement pipe turned into a bomb shelter as air raid sirens warn of incoming Iranian missile strike in Michmoret, Israel, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
Ariel Schalit
Smoke rise from an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, Monday, March 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Hassan Ammar
A man passes in front of a destroyed building that housed a branch of Al-Qard Al-Hassan, a non-bank financial institution run by Hezbollah, which was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Hussein Malla
People walk past closed shops at the nearly empty traditional main bazaar in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Vahid Salemi
Motorbikes drive past a billboard depicting Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, center, handing the country’s flag to his son and successor Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, right, as the late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini stands at left, in a square in downtown Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Vahid Salemi
Flames rise after an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh Beirut's southern suburbs, Monday, March 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Hassan Ammar
A man holds a poster of Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, the successor to his late father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as supreme leader, during a rally to support him in Tehran, Iran, Monday, March 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Vahid Salemi
People wave Iranian flags as they hold posters of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, showing him at different ages, during a rally to support his son Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, who succeeds his father as the new supreme leader, in Tehran, Iran, Monday, March 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Vahid Salemi
People gather in a rally to support Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, the successor to his late father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as supreme leader, in Tehran, Iran, Monday, March 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Vahid Salemi
The coffin of Mehdi Hosseini, a man killed in a U.S.-Israeli strike, is carried for burial at Behesht-e Zahra cemetery in Tehran, Iran, Monday, March 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Vahid Salemi
A girl displaced by Israeli airstrikes, looks on at a school used as a shelter in Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, March 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Hassan Ammar
Relatives mourn over the flag draped coffin of Mehdi Hosseini who was killed in a U.S.-Israeli strike during his burial ceremony at Behesht-e Zahra cemetery in Tehran, Iran, Monday, March 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Vahid Salemi
Israeli security forces and ZAKA rescue service members carry the body of a man killed in an Iranian missile strike in Yehud, Israel, Monday, March 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Ohad Zwigenberg
Two women from the Iranian Red Crescent Society stand as a thick plume of smoke from a U.S.-Israeli strike on an oil storage facility late Saturday rises in the sky in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Vahid Salemi
A woman walks past a cordoned-off area damaged during an Iranian strike in Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Ohad Zwigenberg
Mourners carry the bodies of Hezbollah fighters who were killed by Israeli airstrikes during their funeral procession in Khraibeh village, eastern Lebanon, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Bilal Hussein
Residents look on and take pictures as flames and smoke rise from an oil storage facility struck as attacks hit the city during the U.S.–Israeli military campaign in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, March 7, 2026. (Alireza Sotakbar/ISNA via AP)
Alireza Sotakbar
Jon Gambrell, news director for the Gulf and Iran for The Associated Press, has reported from each of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Iran and other locations across the Mideast and the wider world since joining AP in 2006.
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Police officers stand on top of their car with pictures of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, right and left, and his son Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, his successor, center, during a rally in support of him in Tehran, Iran, March 9.
People gather at a rally to support Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, the successor to his late father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as supreme leader, in Tehran, Iran, March 9.
