Report: Despite rhetoric, Khamenei practicing ‘strategic patience,’ avoiding escalation with US, Israel

Despite his raging rhetoric, a report in The New York Times suggests that Iranian Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is not seeking a military escalation with either the US or Israel.

Citing two people “familiar with Iran’s internal discussions,” the report says that Khamenei has been ordering his military chiefs to practice “strategic patience” and avoid any major escalation with the US, including limiting proxy attacks on US military bases in Syria and Iraq as well as minimizing responses to any purported Israeli operations inside Iran.

The report also says that while intelligence does not point to Israeli involvement in the deadly blast yesterday at the grave of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, the country’s leaders have made a decision to hold Israel publicly responsible for the attack no matter the evidence — and even if another group claims responsibility.