Jailed cryptocurrency fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried lauded on Wednesday the effectiveness of Operation Epic Fury, the joint U.S.-Israeli military campaign against Iran.

SBF Endorses Analysis Backing Military Campaign

Bankman-Fried, also known as SBF, posted on X an Al Jazeera op-ed titled "The US-Israeli strategy against Iran is working. Here is why,” describing it as an “excellent” article.

The piece, penned by Muhanad Seloom, Assistant Professor of International Politics and Security at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, argued that the operation has succeeded in “dismantling” Iran’s capacity to wage war, including its missiles, drones, and air defenses.

“The assassination of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei eliminated the apex of the authorisation pyramid. His son Mojtaba's appointment as his successor, a dynastic transfer without precedent in the Islamic Republic, signals institutional fragility, not continuity,” the report read.

The article acknowledges the human costs of the war, including the deaths of 1,400 Iranian civilians and six U.S. service members, but counters this with the nuclear “threat” that Iran posed.

SBF quoted excerpts from the article and went on to say, “The costs of striking Iran are real. But so is the nuclear threat.”

Who’s Right, Who’s Wrong?

The op-ed aligned with what President Donald Trump has been claiming — Iran's ability to wage war "severely diminished," and its missile arsenal "down to a scatter."

However, U.S. intelligence reports reportedly suggested that, despite the strikes, Iran’s leadership remains stable and is not at risk of imminent collapse.

Notably, Joe Kent, who recently resigned as Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, stated that Iran “poses no imminent threat” to the U.S. The White House dismissed his statements as false.

What’s In It for SBF?

SBF’s social media posts have followed a clear pattern lately — most praising Trump’s policies, whether economic, foreign affairs and cryptocurrency. He has also tried to paint Judge Lewis Kaplan, who sentenced him to prison and also presided over Trump's federal defamation trial, as a common adversary.

Multiple X users responded to SBF’s latest post on the war, stating these tactics won’t secure him a pardon.

Trump has indicated he has no intention of pardoning SBF.

SBF, who is currently serving a 25-year sentence for the FTX scam, filed a request for a new trial earlier this month, alleging that the Justice Department under Joe Biden threatened key defense witnesses from testifying. 

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