The Guardian: Tehran's immediate response to the assassination of Soleimani was carefully studied and does not mean the end of the crisis

The Guardian editorial described Tehran's immediate response to the killing of Iran's Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani as "carefully thought out and also unlikely to lead to an end to the crisis with the United States."

The newspaper said that satisfaction with Iran's behavior is important, but any limited retaliation against the United States for Soleimani’s killing is an understandable and worthy instinct, and things may get worse later. However, you cannot be satisfied because the risks have stopped for a short period and have not been avoided. She added that while Trump said yesterday that Iran "appears to be backing down," we are not expected to know the true impact of the killing for months or possibly years.

The newspaper pointed out that Iran's raids on Iraqi bases with American forces were the first direct attack on Americans since the seizure of the American embassy in Tehran in 1979, and the first direct attack on an American base, and considered it a bold and symbolic parade.

And given that Iran cannot - as the newspaper commented - endure a fierce war, the raids on Wednesday morning seemed a reasonable response, but it was hardly the "severe revenge" that it pledged, and said that these raids, as described by the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, slapped in the face America cannot make up for the assassination of Soleimani and that "the important thing is to end the American presence."

Whether the US withdrawal is imminent or not, the events of the past week have made it almost a foregone conclusion, the newspaper added. This may be enough to calm the pride of the affected Iran, which allows it to say that it - as Soleimani wanted long ago - expelled the United States, which will leave Iraq without obtaining anything, not even a fig leaf that reflects the accomplishment of its disastrous invasion of Iraq in 2003.

But the missile attacks will also allow Iran to return to its preferred method of "a policy of denial closest to ratification and dependence on proxies, cyberattacks and terrorism."

We can see attacks on US military personnel and civilians in the region, on the oil infrastructure of regional partners, and attacks against Israel from Syria. Echoes can be felt in Afghanistan, and Americans may be targeted much further afield.