Iran’s Failed Kill Shot Leaves it Vulnerable

Rather than a proportional show of force that ostensibly counts as a U.S.-Israeli “win” and an opportunity to de-escalate, the Iranian regime made a maximum effort to inflict serious damage on Israel last weekend by firing massive barrages of long-range ballistic missiles. Before Tehran used them in combat for the first time this past weekend, these missiles threatened a potentially devastating second-strike capability intended to deter costly U.S. or Israeli military action. With Tehran’s stocks of these weapons now significantly but temporarily depleted, the United States and Israel have a window of opportunity to exploit this vulnerability, reinforce deterrence, and choke off Iran’s ability to reconstitute these arsenals by targeting its missile production, proliferation, and launch capabilities.