It was a brilliant bit of theater, just like their mass drone response to Israel’s last provocation.
In both cases now, Iran has managed to make Israel, and now the US, look both antagonistic and foolish. Their precisely measured responses really highlight the fact that they didn’t provoke either of these fights, that they have no intention of engaging in pointless bloodshed, but that, if pressed, they can and will respond in kind.
It makes them look like the only adults in the room.
I don’t know.
The response against Israel was more successful, but from what I can see the US base attack seemed less “we can hit you when we choose to” and more “this is all we can muster right now”.
Didn’t scream “restrained strength” to me.
considering there were reports that Iran warned Qatar and the US base long before the attack … and that the attack did very little except use some US ordinances to intercept the missiles, and the reports of the US attack not doing much to Iran …
seems like Iran showed an equal but probably much cheaper show of force.
Imagine a bat fight that you started, you are trying to avoid being hit so you are in a room in another part of the bar. Suddenly, a projectile flies through the walls of the bar and is stopped at the last minute before it hits your square in the head. What stopped it? The neighbor of the person you picked a fight with.
That’s what Iran did.