Iranian-backed groups chose to enter the war on the side of Iran on March 2. Since then, it has been subjected to airstrikes, and Israel has launched a, so far, limited ground operation into Lebanon.
Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei had held his first foreign policy session since being named supreme leader, and had taken a stance for revenge against the US and Israel that was “very tough and serious.”
Jordan’s carefully balanced neutrality has been expressed through both its diplomatic statements and through its actions, said Ofir Winter, a senior researcher at the INSS, Tel Aviv University.
Iran lost the first round badly. Its nuclear sites are rubble. Its air defenses are gone. The Revolutionary Guards have taken casualties they won't acknowledge for months.
The Iranian-backed militias in Iraq have become increasingly more powerful in the last decade.
Larijani, the son of a Shia jurisprudence scholar, held several senior roles within the Islamic Republic during his career, most recently as the Supreme National Security Council Secretary.
The killing of Ali Larijani, who has been doing most of the work running the country for the wounded supreme leader, was a message to any still surviving Iranian leaders: you are out of time.
Iran's sports minister said last week the Iranian players couldn't participate in the tournament after the US launched airstrikes alongside Israel against Tehran, killing Khamenei.
The US military's Central Command said the vast majority of those wounded had suffered minor injuries and 180 troops had already returned to duty. Ten of the injuries are serious, it said.
Pre-war intelligence assessments did not say that Iran’s response was "a guarantee, but it certainly was on the list of potential outcomes," said one source.
"There is a wide feeling across the Gulf that Iran has crossed every red line with every Gulf country,” said Abdulaziz Sager, chairman of the Saudi-based Gulf Research Center.
