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Hamas actions are Iranian actions.  Iran started this portion of the conflict on October 7th when its proxy military organization went into Israel for a rape-and-murder festival.

The only thing new here is that Iran is finally acting openly rather than waging a shadow war through its proxies.  That is significant but it doesn't change the fact that Iran started it this time, back in October, using Hamas forces.

Hamas actions are not Iranian actions. That is just blatantly incorrect and false. Hamas and Iran have had many spats- they are not as closely linked as you just implied they were. Hamas = Sunni Arabs, Iranians = Shia Persians. They aren't exactly BFF's, there are serious tensions there and there continues to be a major riff between Hamas leadership and Iran over Iran's full-stop backing of Assad (Hamas strongly supports the Sunni overthrow of Assad) in Syria. It's more of the friend of my enemy is my friend type of situation. 

And really, that is all besides the point. EVEN if Hamas were Iranian proxies to the level you just implied (they aren't) - it was beyond reckless for Israel to hit directly at Iran at their embassy compound in Damascus. Iran was always going to have to respond to save face, and if Israel retaliates to something THE ISRAELIS STARTED- and an attack from Iran that by the way clearly looks to me like Iranian leadership intended to fail (Iran gave 72 hr warning of a strike- who does this) - it could cause a much greater war to break out that the US could get dragged into.

And by your own above reasoning, that means the Russians should just go ahead and attack the US and start WWIII, since Ukraine is effectively a colony of the United States- a complete proxy wholly dependent on the United States giving it military intelligence, cash, loans, and shitloads of weapons. Because whatever support Iran has given Hamas (and the evidence for that is minimal and full of contradictions) - US has given Ukraine 10000000000000x fold.

Said it before and I'll say it again, Netanyahu should've just drone striked himself. It was HIS DECISION to give Hamas upwards of a billion dollars over the years. Netanyahu has funded Hamas 10x compared to whatever scraps Iran has ever given them. Netanyahu and people close to him openly admit they've used Hamas to split the Palestinians and to prevent a two state solution from ever happening.

I don't know if it's "brilliant" because I think it was really Iran's only option, but it probably served its purpose.  Sure everyone in the West knows how futile the attack was, but nobody in Iran is going to hear the Western news.

If nothing else they forced the United States to spend up to a $1 billion shooting down a bunch of $3,000 drones and a handful of missiles.

FIFY

gas prices are high enuff

IMO

this. lol. 

I'd guess most of the drones and cruise missiles were shot down with cannon, maybe some with Sidewinders.

The ballistic missiles would have required Aegis or equivalents from the Israelis.

As I noted, it was a useful systems test.

The US produces over 4.5 times as much oil as does Iran.  I think most of Iran's oil ends up in China and India.

the US shot down the vast majority of those ballistic missiles and drones- not Israel- and Iran gave 72 hour notice that a strike was imminent. if they really wanted to strike successfully- they wouldn't have announced sh*t and just done it.

the price of oil is dictated upon a world wide market of supply and demand. Iran is the 3rd largest producer of oil in OPEC- the major player and market mover. Doesn't really matter if their oil ends up in the West (it doesn't, sanctions) - the price of oil- and in turn the price of everything else- will go up- if their oil producing capacity is destroyed and taken offline. will remove a chunk of global supply, and global demand ain't going anywhere- which will just cause a chain reaction to move prices upwards. China and India will still need to import shitloads of oil, and less oil for them to buy means more competition for the oil that's left- and prices of everything will go up.

When gun violence in America is discussed, people typically think about mass shootings, homicides or even domestic violence. But, in fact, the majority of gun-related deaths in the United States are suicides.

In 2023, more than 42,967 people died from gun related injuries. Over half of those deaths were suicides.


Adam Garber, executive director of CeaseFirePA, a research group that advocates for stricter gun laws, says big cities have typically had the highest gun death rates. But that trend has started to shift. Last year, York, a small city in Pennsylvania, had a higher per capita gun death rate than Philadelphia, Garber said.

"It is really everywhere right now," Garber said.

Every year, more than 900 people in Pennsylvania die by gun suicides and 48 are wounded by gun suicide attempts. Suicides make up the majority of gun deaths in Pennsylvania.


https://www.npr.org/2024/04/16/1243924108/gun-violence-suicide-united-states

Groups like Hamas/Hezbollah and the Houtis might not be strictly controlled by the Iranians, but they are enabled by them and have obvious common cause.  I don't know if Iran "orders them around", I doubt it, they might make suggestions of course.

Historically, Arabs and Persians don't get along, don't like each other, view the other with considerable disdain and suspicion.  The enemy of my enemy ...

Iran provides planning and operational/logistical support for missions.  They would never do this for missions they aren't aligned with.

Again, this is nothing new.