Emboldened Iran Makes Dangerous Gamble on Open Confrontation

 https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/iran-emboldened-israel-confrontation-dd7136b7?mod=hp_lead_pos1

Still, in contrast to previous rounds of escalation, the scale of the attack suggested an attempt to inflict real damage inside Israel, military analysts said, with more than 300 total missiles and drones of various types deployed. It took a complex joint operation with the U.S. and Arab neighbors to down most of the projectiles.

“If they wanted to stage a symbolic strike, why use so many systems? If it’s just symbolic, what does the real strike look like? They can’t launch a thousand missiles at once,” said Fabian Hinz, an expert on Iranian missiles and drones with the International Institute for Strategic Studies.