\n\n“So why, in the midst of grappling with an out-of-control pandemic and an economy in free fall, would Tehran devote time and money to fighting the US? The answer, at least in part, is that the Iranian government believes the United States is particularly weak right now, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With Washington\u2019s ineptitude on full display in its domestic response to the coronavirus, few people outside of a select group of Iran hawks \u2014 which includes Secretary of State Mike Pompeo \u2014 have much of an appetite for continued clashes with Iranian proxies in Iraq or incidents with the IRGC in the Persian Gulf right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The United States is also a convenient scapegoat and distraction that the Iranian regime regularly uses to deflect attention from its own failures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Facing growing criticism at home and abroad for their abysmal response to the Covid-19 outbreak, Iranian leaders have tried to shift the blame to the US \u2014 particularly the stringent economic sanctions Washington has placed on the country, which Iranian leaders say (not entirely unfairly<\/a>) are hampering the country\u2019s ability to respond to the pandemic.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n …<\/p>\n\n\n\n “The US assassination of Qassem Soleimani on January 3, 2020, was intended to not only take Iran\u2019s most capable military figure off the battlefield but also to \u201creestablish deterrence\u201d \u2014 that is, to raise the stakes so that Iranian-backed militias in Iraq would think twice about attacking US forces in the country going forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, a series of recent attacks shows that far from being cowed, these militias appear to have been emboldened<\/a>. In all likelihood, Iran is only in the nascent stages of responding to the death of Soleimani.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n …<\/p>\n\n\n\n “The coronavirus pandemic sweeping throughout the world has led the United States to draw down its forces, repositioning soldiers<\/a> within Iraq and consolidating troops to fewer bases. US special forces soldiers have been withdrawn from some of the world\u2019s most dangerous active conflict zones, leaving local host-nation forces<\/a> to contend with an array of well-equipped and battle-hardened terrorists, insurgents, and militias.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This has presented Iran with a unique opportunity to expand and consolidate its control in Iraq and push the US entirely out. And the country\u2019s leaders aren\u2019t going to squander their chance.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n …<\/p>\n\n\n\n ” From Tehran, the United States looks at its weakest in years. The country is struggling to formulate a coherent and effective response to Covid-19. The divisions between the United States and its traditional allies are glaring. In terms of US-Iran tensions, US allies in Europe place much of the blame on America, not the Islamic Republic.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n