Analysis: Iran faces tough choices in deciding how to respond to Israeli strikes
Analysis: Iran faces tough choices in deciding how to respond to Israeli strikes
How Iran chooses to respond to the unusually public Israeli airstrikes could determine whether the region spirals further toward all-out war or holds steady at an already devastating and destabilizing level of violence.
A carefully worded statement from Iran’s military Saturday night appeared to offer some wiggle room for the Islamic Republic to back away from further escalation. It suggested that a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon was more important than any retaliation against Israel.
I would never have thought that the Iranian gov’t would be the good guys in this scenario.
Regional experts suggested that Israel’s relatively limited target list was intentionally calibrated to make it easier for Iran to back away from escalation.
As Yoel Guzansky, who formerly worked for Israel’s National Security Council and is now a researcher at the Tel Aviv-based Institute for National Security Studies, put it: Israel’s decision to focus on purely military targets allows Iran “to save face.”
Israel giving them the out.
They're not. The statement is nothing more than a face-saving move to avoid looking weak to other Middle East countries. They don't want to retaliate because they know it will end with the destruction of their nuclear dreams, so they're using the ceasefire as an excuse.