Iran’s latest missile strikes against Israel, launched this week in response to an Israeli strike on Beirut’s suburb of Dahiyeh, have confirmed a view increasingly prevalent in Western capitals: that Tehran has emerged from the US-Iran war more willing to take risks, less constrained by fears of escalation, and more convinced than ever before that military pressure can generate political results.
The tit-for-tat Israeli and Iranian strikes came despite an April ceasefire and despite public pressure from the US to stand down. Israel responded with its own strikes on Iranian targets within hours. Some believe this cycle of low-intensity war might become the new norm, and they are not necessarily wrong. But it only tells half the story.
Photo by Atta Kenare / AFP via Getty Images
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