'Failure or deception?': Iran missile attack, Israel's Lebanon invasion taint Biden's diplomacy

Hours after Iran launched 180 missiles into Israel on Tuesday, the Biden administration deemed the action “ineffective” and vowed that there would be consequences, despite a continued insistence on avoiding a wider regional war.

But by continuing to lend Israel its full-throated support over the past year both in Gaza and Lebanon, where tens of thousands of people have been killed - and by backing the crippling of Hezbollah’s leadership structure - the US has inadvertently provoked Iran.

Omar Rahman, a fellow with the Middle East Council on Global Affairs, told Middle East Eye the provocation could “likely amount to the outbreak of a very far-reaching and destructive war in the region”.

Iran telegraphed its previous response in April, but US officials this time around have denied reports that Iran had informed them of the attack before it took place. 

Rahman said that means Iran has developed a new calculus.

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