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Did Iran Blink?

Jamie Dettmer

   Will U.S. President Donald Trump's gamble in the Mideast pay off or
   prove to be a costly blunder? Western officials and analysts say Iran's
   measured response to date to the slaying of its top general, Qassem
   Soleimani, shows Tehran has no appetite for a head-to-head
   confrontation with Washington.

   But they warn the Islamic Republic's long-term goal remains to push the
   U.S. out of the Mideast -- as underlined this week by the country's
   supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. He recently described the
   missile barrage targeting Iraqi bases housing American troops as a
   "slap on the face" to the U.S., but noted it wouldn't be a sufficient
   reprisal for Soleimani's death.

   And so the long struggle between America and Iran has entered a new
   phase.

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