Iran's Options

[Jungibaaz]

Iran should use this act of war for maximum political leverage among neutral countries, use current world attention appropriately and make the US look like the belligerent warmongers they are.

As for retaliation, I’m sure it will come, but the Iranian government has been smart so far. And they will continue to be smart. They will wait and not to anything in haste, they will come up with a response (or multiples responses) whereby the US and/or it’s interests and allies in the region are targeted, most probably through proxies of the like that the late commander himself had consolidated.

The response will come slowly, it will be a drawn out wait as the ball is in Iran’s court. And most likely the response will be such that Iran could not be directly blamed for it, plausible deniability will be maintained, as it was with the drone attacks on Saudi oil facility. Which itself was a response to an earlier string of provocations.

 

[ChineseTiger1986]

Yes, but they are not operating beyond their borders.

The US has not attacked an Iranian authority inside our territory. It has attacked him on a foreign country which is currently very unstable and is occupied by them. I'm sure that the US won't hesitate to do the same to the NK if they had one of their top generals operating in a country occupied by the US.

They have already pushed you into the corner.

And you cannot simply keep underestimating their new bottom low.

Next time, it could be happening in your own soil if they have perceived your weakness.

 

[Blue In Green]

There should be some common ground that needs to be addressed regarding

Iran right now doesn't have enough power to conduct a head-on collision with the US.

But to acquire the nuclear capable ICBM in a shortcut way like NK shouldn't be something far beyond Iran's capability.

First to make sure that the US won't dare to attack you, and to cooperate further deeper with China and Russia to remove the US influence in the Middle East.

When you cannot even defend yourself, how you can possibly focus to develop your own economy?

Agreed, there needs to be a reconsideration in Iran about the current Iranian doctrine regarding the whole "no east, no west, only Iran" way of thinking.

We can see clearly that Iran has its limits and its strength but it needs to ally itself more deeply with stronger states like Russia and China in order to secure a future economically and militarily. One can only imagine how many doors remained closed because of Iran's decision not to expand cooperation with China and take a side more firmly.

But in this matter I'm a novice, my geopolitical knowledge is quite rudimentary, so what I say I don't say with full knowledge on the subject.

 

[Arian]

They have already pushed you into the corner.

And you cannot simply keep underestimating their new bottom low.

Next time, it could be happening in your own soil if they have perceived your weakness.

We won't underestimate their act of terror for sure, neither will we let it go unanswered. That's for sure.

 

[Jungibaaz]

Nothing hasty should be done. Right now, almost all the world is on Iran’s side. And internally, any political divide is also set aside for national unity.

The response should be measured, not in haste, and most probably will be of a certain nature so as to be deniable.

The US did not conduct this operation on a whim. They prepared, Iran should take its sweet time and do the same. All while reaping sympathy and support from the likes of the EU and elsewhere.

 

[Blue In Green]

Iran should use this act of war for maximum political leverage among neutral countries, use current world attention appropriately and make the US look like the belligerent warmongers they are.

As for retaliation, I’m sure it will come, but the Iranian government has been smart so far. And they will continue to be smart. They will wait and not to anything in haste, they will come up with a response (or multiples responses) whereby the US and/or it’s interests and allies in the region are targeted, most probably through proxies of the like that the late commander himself had consolidated.

The response will come slowly, it will be a drawn out wait as the ball is in Iran’s court. And most likely the response will be such that Iran could not be directly blamed for it, plausible deniability will be maintained, as it was with the drone attacks on Saudi oil facility. Which itself was a response to an earlier string of provocations.

It has most likely been said before but Iran will almost certainly leave the JCPOA in due time, possibility the NPT.

 

[PakSword]

It's literally an opinion backed up by factual evidence. Grow the fvck up.

I have many things to say about Iran.. but anyway. It's now up to mods to take good care of your account.

When you come on a Pakistani forum and disrespect Pakistan and Pakistanis, expect a disrespectful exit from here.

@waz @Dubious

 

[Jungibaaz]

It has most likely been said before but Iran will almost certainly leave the JCPOA in due time, possibility the NPT.

And now who could blame them if they did?

The US is behaving as a rogue state that does not abide by intl law, conducts political assassinations and terror attacks, breaks its own negotiated treaties with other countries, and happily admits to initiating unprovoked acts of war.

The ball is in Iran’s court, not just this ball, but all of them. Diplomatic, public opinion, military retaliation, movement on abiding by JCPOA and enrichment etc.

I hope sense and caution prevails in Iran, this could eventually work massively in Iran’s favour, all while Soleimani is revered as a martyr by his people.

 

[ChineseTiger1986]

There should be some common ground that needs to be addressed regarding


Agreed, there needs to be a reconsideration in Iran about the current Iranian doctrine regarding the whole "no east, no west, only Iran" way of thinking.

We can see clearly that Iran has its limits and its strength but it needs to ally itself more deeply with stronger states like Russia and China in order to secure a future economically and militarily. One can only imagine how many doors remained closed because of Iran's decision not to expand cooperation with China and take a side more firmly.

But in this matter I'm a novice, my geopolitical knowledge is quite rudimentary, so what I say I don't say with full knowledge on the subject.

China also needs to amend its no-alliance doctrine as the economic decoupling with the US becomes inevitable.

The US has failed miserably in its trade war, and they simply won't stop dreaming to destroy China until their country is no more.

China has prepared for the worst possible scenario as the US will persuade the entire western bloc (EU + Japan + South Korea + Turkey) to fight China.

That's why we need to form our own alliance as well, and we simply cannot trust those countries with the US military bases on their soil.

 

[Blue In Green]

And now who could blame them if they did?

The US is behaving as a rogue state that does not abide by intl law, conducts political assassinations and terror attacks, breaks its own negotiated treaties with other countries, and happily admits to initiating unprovoked acts of war.

The ball is in Iran’s court, not just this ball, but all of them. Diplomatic, public opinion, military retaliation, movement on abiding by JCPOA and enrichment etc.

I hope sense and caution prevails in Iran, this could eventually work massively in Iran’s favour, all while Soleimani is revered as a martyr by his people.

I carry mostly the same sentiment as you, nothing more to add honestly, well said!

 

[TheImmortal]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1213451893898465280

Iran is preparing

 

[Jungibaaz]

The same thing happened to us in Pakistan in 2019. Pakistan is usually seen as the less stable, less responsible and less credible state internationally.

India conducted an unprovoked action a across a ceasefire line. We responded while maintaining due caution. We were successful in all fronts, diplomatic, credibility and public opinion, and the retaliation was measured. The other side came off looking worse for initiating a conflict.

Iran can do the same but x100 better given this opportunity/challenge.

 

[ChineseTiger1986]

We won't underestimate their act of terror for sure, neither will we let it go unanswered. That's for sure.

Having the nuclear capable ICBM will be a game changer, and permanently alter the geopolitical landscape of the Middle East.

 

[Arian]

Having the nuclear capable ICBM will be a game changer, and permanently alter the geopolitical landscape of the Middle East.

Yes, but not necessarily in our favor. Iran must establish nuclear deterrence at some point, but whether it should be publicized or not is a delicate matter in my opinion.

 

[Blue In Green]

China also needs to amend its no-alliance doctrine as the economic decoupling with the US becomes inevitable.

The US has failed miserably in its trade war, and they simply won't stop dreaming to destroy China until their country is no more.

China has prepared for the worst possible scenario as the US will persuade the entire western bloc (EU + Japan + South Korea + Turkey) to fight China.

That's why we need to form our own alliance as well, and we simply cannot trust those countries with the US military bases on their soil.

Don't mean to brown nose but Chinese industrial capability especially in ship construction is just amazing. I don't have any doubt in China's future war fighting ability whatsoever.

China will have an equal if not greater than response to any future U.S. Naval deployment in and around China. So I'm not worried about how China will fare in the long term.

Iran possibly joining with China and Pakistan as well as Russia in some sort of a military apparatus would be a god-send in all honesty. In turn Iran would get TOT and much needed jets to make up for its poor Air force.

So there is a possibility that Iran can come out of this looking real good but it will take decades or at least a decade to get this all rolling given the U.S.-Iran don't start bombing each other.