Sure about that?

Yeah, pretty sure. Again, the difference between a strike and a counterstrike. Iran had mined the waters and caused the near-destruction of a US warship - so a direct response to Iranian military activity is something that a regime can easily back away from. Plus, as noted in the article, at the time Iran was being checked militarily by Iraq - so they were in no position to suffer the loss of additional military materiel.

Here, though, the circumstances are different. The US still has an amazing amount of military firepower, but Iran is now the pre-eminent conventional military force in the region, and Iraq is an ally. They have naval allies in the Chinese, who have a nearby military base in Djibouti. They won't face the military pressure to back down. And because the Iranians haven't directly attacked the US military, there's not really a face-saving opportunity for the Iranians to slink back and claim they gave as good as the got.

US Policy FAQ

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