During the Neo-Elamite period, Elam faced profound internal weaknesses and crises that made it increasingly vulnerable. Continuous court intrigues led to the assassination and deposition of Elamite kings; to the extent that three kings of one dynasty, one after another, were overthrown by internal conspiracies and popular revolts. This instability prevented the adoption of sound policies against foreign enemies and demonstrated Elam's immense weakness in the mid-first millennium BCE.
Elam's foreign policy during this period was also in severe conflict with the powerful Assyrian state. From the time of Humban-Nikash and his successors, Elam became entangled in a war of attrition with the Assyrian state. Elamite kings fought Sargon II of Assyria for several years and supported the Babylonian prince Merodach-Baladan. This policy was very costly for Elam and yielded little practical benefit; rather, the pressures exerted by the Assyrians exacerbated Elam's internal crisis.
The climax of these conflicts was the relentless attacks of Ashurbanipal, the bloodthirsty king of Assyria. He launched numerous campaigns into Elam and its neighbors, successfully destroying the remaining Elamite army and capturing its cities. These attacks brought Elam to its knees and dealt a fatal blow to one of the oldest civilizations in the region.
The most tragic part of these attacks was the destruction of the city of Susa, one of Elam's most important and ancient cities. Ashurbanipal plundered and devastated this city with utter savagery. In his inscription, Ashurbanipal described the end of Susa with horrifying details, boasting of the complete destruction of temples, the plundering of riches, and the elimination of all signs of life there. He stated in his tablet: "I, Susa, the great and holy city, by the will of the gods of Assur, I opened. I entered the temple-palaces of Susa, and all the silver, gold, and abundant possessions, I carried off as spoil. I shattered all the bricks of the Susa ziggurat, which were adorned with lapis lazuli. I leveled all the temples of Elam, turned the city of Susa into a ruin, and sowed salt upon its ground. I took all the daughters and women captive. From now on, no one will hear the sound of joyful people or the hooves of horses in Elam." These words demonstrated the depth of the Assyrians' hatred and destructiveness towards their ancient enemy.
This tragedy was a clear embodiment of the cycle of violence and revenge in ancient history. Just as the Assyrians ruthlessly destroyed cities and civilizations and enslaved peoples, a similar fate awaited them. These very actions and accumulated resentments from the subjugated nations ultimately led to widespread revolts and the alliance of their enemies. Less than a decade after Elam's destruction by Ashurbanipal, like those acts of violence, the Assyrian capitals also tasted the bitter fruit of devastation. Nineveh and Assur, the heart of the brutal Assyrian Empire, were engulfed in fire and blood and annihilated. This relentless cycle of conquest and destruction had severely exhausted the people of the region, bringing suffering and ruin, and the need for a new order, based on peace and tolerance, was felt more than ever. This legacy of violence was what paved the way for the emergence of Cyrus II, a ruler with a policy of tolerance and lasting peace, a messiah for various nations.
Following Ashurbanipal's attacks and the capture of Susa, Elam's power severely declined, and Elam was no longer considered a prominent regional power. It was during this period that the Persians, who had probably ruled Anshan since the time of Teispes, took advantage of the Elamites' weakness and completely conquered the Anshan region. Although Elam continued its semi-independent existence after these attacks, it lacked the power to once again become a great force in the region. This marked the end of an era for a civilization with thousands of years of history on the Iranian plateau. After the fall of Assyria, Susa gradually came under Persian rule and the remaining Elamites submitted to the Persian kings, and thus, the historical Elamite government was completely extinguished, and its legacy was integrated into the nascent Achaemenid civilization.