Expect a far harsher Israeli response to Iran than in April
Tehran will be thinking through how far it wants to take this, even as the ground moves beneath its feet.
“Victory is close!” said Ayatollah Khamenei after Iran fired 180 ballistic missiles at Israel this week. The Supreme Leader is not known for his sense of humour, so either he believes his own rhetoric, or he knows a good soundbite bite when he says one.
It’s probably the latter. Tuesday’s missile attack was a bigger failure than that of April when Tehran fired 120 missiles and, as again this week, caused very little damage. In April, it announced the attack hours in advance probably to minimise the effect and therefore minimise Israel’s response. Israel read the message and responded with a very limited air strike on Iran’s Artesh airbase.
This time, Tehran gave less notice, used faster cruise missiles, and concentrated on densely populated areas of central Israel whereas in April it targeted remote areas.
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