Past rounds of violence between the United States and Iran have ended with predictable choreography. After Qasem Soleimani was killed in 2020 in retaliation for the death of an American in Iraq, Iran retaliated by lobbing a volley of ballistic missiles at two American air bases in that country. No Americans were killed, the Trump administration elected not to respond, and the round was complete. It was the same story last summer after the strikes on the Iranian nuclear program. The Iranians all but submitted a permission slip before striking the largely deserted Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, causing no casualties and minimal damage.
Not this time.
Yesterday’s U.S. and Israeli strikes killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and other senior figures. Within hours, the regime launched a wave of retaliation across the region, relying largely on its stocks of ballistic missiles and drones.
