Who won and who lost in the Israeli-Iranian confrontation that lasted 12 consecutive days, and was only stopped by direct intervention from US President Donald Trump, who had ordered the bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities hours before this intervention?!

The above question is being asked by everyone in Iran, Israel, the region, the world, and elsewhere, and it will certainly continue for a long time without a definitive answer.

Although we are in the era of the information revolution explosion, the irony is that the amount of propaganda, misinformation, rumors, and half-truths, quarters, and fifths of the truth is the mastermind, leaving a large number of people in a difficult state of confusion and bewilderment.

Personally - and because I try to be as objective as possible - I can say clearly that it is difficult for me to determine who won this battle until the correct facts, data and information become clear, or when the political results on the ground become clear and materialize.

However, we will try to list and read some indicators that may bring us closer to answering the question.

The first indicator: The results of this type of war, and indeed most wars, are not measured solely by the number of dead, wounded, and missing, or even by the extent of the destruction. Despite the importance of these factors, the true measure of the results of any war is the political outcomes that will be translated on the ground.

Some may ask: How can this factor be applied and measured on the ground?

The answer can simply be found by examining the conditions and situations of each side before and after the start of the war, not just in the last 12-day battle, but in the battles and wars throughout the region since Operation Flood of Al-Aqsa, which Hamas carried out against Israeli settlements on the morning of October 7, 2023, and led to Israel launching a sweeping aggression against Gaza, southern Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen, some of which is still ongoing today.

For example, before October 7, Iran had an ambitious nuclear and missile program. What is the status of this program now?

Iran has had tremendous influence in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Gaza. Will this influence continue, decline, or disappear completely?

The second indicator is the extent of intelligence penetration by each party. Who was able to record more qualitative operations? I believe the answer to this question, unfortunately, is entirely in Israel's favor.

One of the important indicators in calculating results is looking at the achievement of the goals set by each party.

Israel's first declared goal was to eliminate Iran's nuclear program. It already launched painful strikes against the facilities, followed by the American midnight hammer strike against the facilities just hours before the ceasefire.

Trump said the program was destroyed, Netanyahu said we dealt it painful blows, and Iran says the program is still intact, and that all that happened was the destruction of buildings, headquarters, and structures, not the program itself.

The key question here is: Will Iran be able to resume the program, and at what enrichment level? Will it be able to manufacture a nuclear bomb from the 400 kilograms of enriched uranium, given that Netanyahu has threatened to strike this program if Iran resumes work on it?

Another goal was to eliminate Iran's missile program. It is clear from the facts that Iran continued to bombard Israel with missiles until the last minute before the ceasefire.

But the truth will become clearer when we know the size of Iran's remaining missiles, as well as its ability to manufacture them.

If Iran is the one who manufactures these missiles entirely, it would be bad news for Israel, because the 12-day test demonstrated that Iran is capable of causing significant harm to Israel.

In the coming days, we will see the audiences of each side celebrating the victory. This is only natural, especially among the audiences most loyal to Iran or Israel. But once again, the real answer to the question of who won will not be easy, and more importantly, it will take time to materialize into political results on the ground.