This week, the Islamic Republic of Iran—a radical Shariah theocracy hellbent on the destruction of Israel and Saudi Arabia, among others—fired some 300 drones and missiles at the state of Israel. This is, definitionally, an act of war.
Iran claimed that it had attacked Israel in response to Israel’s killing of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps terrorism master Gen. Mohammad Reza Zahedi in Syria. In reality, this was merely the latest escalation by Iran, after decades of using its proxies in the Middle East to attack Americans, Israelis, and Western allies.
Why, though, did Iran think it could get away with such a launch without serious repercussions—particularly since America directly intervened, along with the U.K., France, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia in taking down Iranian ordnance?
The answer is simple: Iran has successfully deterred the United States.
Deterrence,…
