WarSclerotic

A senior Iranian official claimed Sunday that the Islamic ‎republic has “settled the score” with Israel over ‎its attack on Iranian “advisers” in Syria.‎

Iran vowed to deal Israel a “painful blow” over ‎an April 4 strike on the T4 air base in Homs ‎province, which housed an Iranian drone unit. Seven ‎Revolutionary Guards officers were killed in the ‎strike, which dealt a crippling blow to Iran’s drone ‎deployment in Syria. ‎

In an interview with Qatar’s Al Jazeera network, ‎Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National ‎Security Council, said, “Iranian advisers are in Syria ‎at the invitation of the legal Syrian government, to ‎combat terrorism.”‎

He said that the “Zionist regime’s claims that it ‎hit Iranian assets in Syria are false because ‎Iran only sent military advisers to Syria. It does ‎not take an active part in the fighting.” ‎

Shamkhani called the strike on T4 a “strategic ‎mistake.”

“The Zionist regime has paid ‎the price for this great mistake. The score has been ‎settled,”‎ he said.

He did not elaborate, but it is believed he was ‎referring to the May 10 rocket salvo by Iranian ‎forces in Syria at Israeli military bases in the ‎Golan Heights, which he described as “balancing the ‎equation” opposite Israel. ‎However, none of the rockets landed in Israel and Israel responded with a massive attack on Iranian assets in Syria.

Shamkhani’s statement may have sought to play both a ‎strategic and a tactical role. ‎

Iran is under considerable pressure ‎due to the U.S.’s recent withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear ‎agreement, the dire economic situation in Iran, and growing ‎domestic unrest and protests against the regime, ‎which most likely hinder any plans Iran may have ‎about launching another active military front at ‎this time. In addition, it seems Iran is finding it ‎difficult to carry out a successful military strike ‎against Israel, after its attempts so far have ‎failed. ‎

However, it is also possible that the ‎statement is an Iranian attempt to lull Israel into ‎a false sense of security so as to preserve the ‎element of surprise if and when future conditions enable it to strike back at Israel.