The hardliners are in power—everything's different now! Iran retaliates with equal force by bombing a U.S. university, and the White House is caught off guard again!

On March 31, a U.S. university in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq, was attacked in the early morning hours, with smoke rising above the campus. This action is a direct response to previous airstrikes by the United States and Israel on Iranian universities.

Prior to this, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had publicly warned that universities within Israel and American universities across West Asia would be considered "legitimate targets" for retaliation.

On the early morning of March 28, Iran University of Science and Technology suffered an airstrike, resulting in damage to campus facilities. Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson stated that over the past month, the U.S. and Israel have repeatedly and deliberately targeted institutions including universities and research centers, aiming to undermine Iran’s scientific foundation and developmental base.

Iran’s retaliatory action demonstrates both high-level parity and strategic calculation. The choice of targets reflects “equal retaliation”—since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran’s science and technology university, Iran has targeted similar educational institutions operated by the U.S. overseas. Timing was also perfectly precise: the retaliation followed immediately after the failure of the final warning, forming a tight chain of consequences with no room for maneuver left for the adversary.

It now appears that Khamenei remains relatively restrained, representing the moderate faction. Currently, Iran is being governed by a younger, more hardline group, leading to significantly stronger retaliatory actions against the U.S. Previously, the U.S. claimed it didn’t expect Iran to strike Gulf nations—based on their prior assessment of Khamenei. Now, one wonders: is the White House regretting its miscalculation?

Original source: toutiao.com/article/1861140572053516/

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