For the past week, we have waited for the other shoe to drop after Israel’s targeted hits on Hamas, Hezbollah, and IRGC leadership. The assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in particular created an irate reaction in Tehran, in which the Supreme Leader himself swore to unleash a devastating blow against the Israelis.
And then … nothing has happened. Hezbollah took a few minor shots at northern Israel that landed, but otherwise the threats have hung in the air while Israel’s allies organized a defense and tried to avoid any further escalation via diplomatic channels. And now the latest rumor from Iran is that the new president has explicitly asked Ayatollah Khamenei to cancel the retaliation in order for him to pursue better ties to the West:
Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, has reportedly asked the Islamic Republic’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to refrain from…
