AMERICA’S LONG-RUNNING quarrel with the Islamic Republic has become a war. On February 28th the United States and Israel launched coordinated strikes across Iran; the regime in Tehran responded with missiles across the region; and President Donald Trump urged Iranians to “take over” their government—nudging the declared aim from nuclear restraint towards regime change. Yet the real threshold had been crossed earlier. In June last year Operation Midnight Hammer sent B-2 bombers and Tomahawk missiles into Iran’s main nuclear sites at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan, ending half a century of American reluctance to strike directly at Iran’s strategic core. That campaign broke a taboo that had been in effect for decades despite bloody Iranian-sponsored attacks against Americans in Lebanon and Saudi Arabia. This one has turned a broken taboo into a method for a new era.
Read Prof. Simon's full article for The Economist HERE!