The question wasn't whether Iran would retaliate against the United States after President Donald Trump authorized airstrikes over the weekend against three Iranian nuclear facilities at Natanz, Fordo and Isfahan. The question was what that retaliation would look like.
The answer came Monday when Iran responded with a small, relatively restrained missile attack against the American-operated Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar that was more symbolic than threatening. The highly choreographed nature of the strike, which came only after Iran gave Qatar a heads-up about when the attack would occur and where it would send its missiles, can only be described as a concerted Iranian attempt to limit the damage to the absolute minimum. Trump seems to acknowledge what Tehran was up to, writing on Truth Social hours after the Iranian attack, "I want to thank Iran for giving us early notice, which made it possible for no lives to be lost, and nobody was injured."
Trump said on Monday that Iran and Israel are attempting some sort of ceasefire. Now would seem like the perfect opportunity for everyone to back away from the ledge.
This is a preview of Daniel R. DePetris' latest column. Read the full column here. |
