Related ...
... Iran is betting it can outlast Washington by turning the Middle East's trade routes, shipping lanes and energy infrastructure into pressure points that steadily raise the cost of confrontation, according to Gulf officials and analysts.
Rather than seeking a decisive military victory, Tehran is pursuing a strategy of calibrated escalation aimed at widening the conflict without triggering full-scale war.
The goal, they say, is to convince the United States and its allies that containing the crisis is more costly than accommodating Iran's demands over the Strait of Hormuz.
The message from Tehran is that unless Washington accepts a new status quo that gives Iran a greater role in Hormuz, the conflict could spread beyond the Gulf.
By putting multiple maritime chokepoints and energy assets at risk, Iran believes it can strengthen its hand in any future negotiations.
"Iran, from the beginning, has tried to out-escalate the United States by stretching out its escalation options so that it always has something new to bring every week -- a new geography, a new type of weapon, a new type of target," Michael Knights of the Washington Institute told Reuters. ...
Reminder of how we got here
1. Piggy unilaterally pulled out of the JCPOA despite Iran abiding by it
2. Piggy attacked them last summer without warning, declaration or justification-during negotiations.
3. Piggy agreed to a ceasefire with Iran last summer.
4. Piggy attacked Iran AGAIN, during negotiations, without warning, declaration or justification despite Iran abiding by the ceasefire.
5. Piggy launched the current war with a cowardly sneak attack that murdered their leader and infants.
6. Piggy launched this unjust, unjustifiable, illegal, immoral attack because Israel recognized a target of opportunity-the Iranian leader at home during peacetime.
7. Piggy murdered Iran's negotiators and moderates in the Iranian leadership.
8. Piggy bragged about murdering Iran's leadership-despite this being a war crime.
9. Piggy has threatened to murder Iran's negotiators.
10. Piggy signed a MOU to stop the fighting.
11. Piggy immediately breached the MoU.
12. Piggy has attacked unarmed commercial vessels traversing the strait
13. Piggy has regularly threated to end Iranian civilization
14. Piggy flounders between outrageous threats and actions-seizing the Strait and charging a toll, giving Saudi Arabia nuclear technology and immediately TACOing because the corrupt gulf dictators tell him no.
None of the above even touches on the evil acts of our ally Israel
America is the bad guy
We deserve to suffer.