Comment by dredmorbius

4 days ago

If you're launching ballistics in a conflict where a local-theatre adversary has nukes, you might actually want to telegraph just what you're lobbing, when, and where, to avoid a Petrov-gone-wrong scenario.

"We're only hitting Gulf neighbour US-adjacent targets" is less threatening than "we're aiming directly at Israel".

(Though yes, Iran has struck Israel with > 200 missiles in a single attack: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_2024_Iranian_strikes_o...>.)

Note that US attacks on Iran have been similarly loudly telegraphed in response. Though I suspect the rationale (if any) differs.