Following the start of the 2026 Iran war, US Navy veteran and commentator Malcolm Nance expanded on the analogy, saying that “if Afghanistan is the graveyard of empires then Iran is the funeral home of empires. It dresses you up and lays you into the coffin neatly. Then closes the lid.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graveyard_of_empires
more analysis of the death of US empire here: https://indi.ca/americas-military-is-never-coming-back-from-this/
Is this image from the Saudi Arabia air base where the sentry aircraft was damaged by an Iranian strike?
Correct - taken from the slides here: https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/photos-show-tinker-based-awacs-152930560.html