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Commentary
The Wall Street Journal

How Would the US Handle a Nuclear Iran?

Israel’s strikes expose the limits of Tehran’s ability to compete in conventional combat.

walter_russell_mead
walter_russell_mead
Ravenel B. Curry III Distinguished Fellow in Strategy and Statesmanship
Commuters drive past a billboard bearing pictures of Masoud Pezeshkian, Mohammad Bagheri, and Benjamin Netanyahu in Tehran on October 27, 2024. (Atta Kenare via Getty Images)
Caption
Commuters drive past a billboard bearing pictures of Masoud Pezeshkian, Mohammad Bagheri, and Benjamin Netanyahu in Tehran on October 27, 2024. (Atta Kenare via Getty Images)

Ali Khamenei, supreme leader of Iran, has had a bad week. Elon Musk’s X suspended his new Hebrew-language account, and the Israel Defense Forces unleashed a devastating series of air raids against his country’s military infrastructure. Given the disparity between Iran’s capabilities and Israel’s, the beleaguered ayatollah doesn’t have many good options for a counterstrike.

Israel’s prime minister, on the other hand, has had a good week. Benjamin Netanyahu pleased both his American and Gulf Arab allies by refraining from attacks on Iran’s nuclear sites and oil refineries. But deterrence was restored. Israeli warplanes didn’t only cripple Iran’s air-defense systems and inflict painful blows on its missile-producing facilities. They also sent a message that Israel knows where Tehran’s strategic vulnerabilities are, and it can destroy them any time it wants.

Read in The Wall Street Journal.

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