Iran’s love for restraint has cost it dearly since the Syrian war.
In 2015, an Israeli air strike in Syria near the Golan killed a Iranian General in charge of Syrian operations and the son of one of the original founders of Hezbollah and their most brilliant operative.
What Nasrallah do in response? A token attack on some border patrol unit.
What did Iran do in response? Nothing just empty threats about time and place.
That in my opinion was the single most tragic mistake that Iran and Hezbollah committed and it foreshadowed the great demise of the Axis of Resistance in the years to come.
After Israel realized it could kill high level Iranian and Hezbollah operatives and pay no meaningful price, it kicked off a decade of Israeli assassinations on Iranian and HZ forces in Syria and Lebanon, ultimately culminating in the Solemani assassination in 2020.
When faced with the loss of their strongest general and the glue and mastermind of the axis of resistance network, what did Iran do? Did it declare war and say enough is enough and that it must respond dimly? No just more strategic patience, Restraint and failure to uphold deterrence.
This feebleness by Iran and Hezbollah also know was as the Khamenai and Nasrallah doctrine, ultimately lead to the deaths of both of these leaders and large number officials from IRGC and HZ.
And yet it appears Iran is once again exercising restraint against the U.S. with hopes that “this time will be different”.
History says otherwise.