The predicament of Iran – in the crosshairs of an American bombardment of its infrastructure – is deeply tied to its readiness. There’s a secrecy over its position that is more than a supposed attempt to make a nuclear weapon. Investigators have previously struggled to work out much of its energy production capacity and related financial information.
The human element is also missing from our records. Mojtaba Khamenei, its Supreme Leader, is cited as having a stern view of conflict as it pertains to leading an army. “The wheels come to the character,” he once said directly in an interview in London, “the wheels, and certainly, the war.” The threat levelled by an Islamic leader of note is listened to throughout the Muslim world. His language so far has proved it to be true, but the mystery is over his actual influence.
Meanwhile, the great American machine is whirring away, processing all the relevant data, and anything else it’s learned since. The skies look different in Washington. The mess created on the ground is just a part of a far more intelligent strategy in their own eyes. The firepower of the Atlantic power is also undoubted. It remains a direct threat to Iran in all of its plotting and political networking.