Iran successfully advanced five strategic objectives: 1) preemptively thwarting an imminent terrorist attack from Pakistani soil; 2) flexing its military muscles before the domestic and international audiences; 3) suggesting that Pakistani-emanating terrorist threats are as dangerous as threats from Israel and the US; 4) reinforcing perceptions of Pakistan as a …

Iran said it targeted a “Mossad spy headquarters” as “revenge” after the Islamic State claimed responsibility for suicide bombings that killed dozens in Tehran. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said Tuesday it destroyed an Israeli spy headquarters in a series of airstrikes near the U.S. consulate in Erbil, Iraq, and …

An Iranian strike on Pakistan this week that drew a rapid military riposte and raised fears of greater regional turmoil was driven by Iran’s efforts to reinforce its internal security rather than its ambitions for the Middle East, according to three Iranian officials, one Iranian insider and an analyst. Both …