Zvi Bar’el in Haaretz: ‘But the "24-hour war," widely viewed as a round of fighting that neither side could avoid, also reflects a deeper shift in Iranian strategy. What appeared to be a routine exchange of military responses was, in reality, another expression of Tehran's evolving regional doctrine – one that increasingly seeks to translate survival into influence, deterrence into leverage, and military resilience into a new political order.’

And: ‘Against this backdrop, Iran's responses to the Israeli strike in Beirut's Dahiyeh suburb and its linking of Hezbollah's security to the security of negotiations with the United States should be viewed as more than acts of deterrence.’

As well: ‘Symbolically, Iran is abandoning the historic division between the "Great Satan" and the "Little Satan." In its place stands a single enemy confronting what Iranian leaders increasingly portray as a "Greater Iran."’

In short, one Satan is better and cheaper. Iran is winning.

(a sf 2151)