INTRODUCTION: The War Behind the War When the United States launches strikes against Iran, the official language is always familiar: deterrence, stability, security, retaliation. But beneath the public briefing slides and the Pentagon soundbites, another battlefield opens — one less visible, but potentially more corrosive. It is the battlefield of perception. “Operation Epstein Fury,” as critics have dubbed the escalation, isn’t merely about Tehran’s centrifuges or regional p