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The beheading of Iran’s regime last weekend was just the beginning. Iranian officials are deliberating over who should replace Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the slain supreme leader. His son has emerged as a front-runner. (Read about him here.)
The conflict is spiraling outward: Today, Iran targeted its neighbors, Saudi Arabia intercepted cruise missiles and Israel flattened buildings in Lebanon. The United States is launching “24/7 strikes into Iran,” American officials said.
The U.S., Israel and the Gulf states are ostensibly on the same side, but they do not always have the same goals. And Iran, playing defense, wants the least-worst outcome. In today’s newsletter, we explore what each side hopes to achieve.
Iran’s government wants to survive.
The plan for Iran is to make the war painful enough that the United States will declare victory and go home, writes Steven Erlanger, who covers diplomacy and security.
To inflict that pain, Iran is trying to drive up the cost of the war. It has attacked oil and gas infrastructure in neighboring countries and shut down the Strait of Hormuz, disrupting the economies of the Persian Gulf and driving up global energy prices and inflation.
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