Former US ambassador Chas Freeman argues that Iran’s strike “changes all the rules of the game in the Middle-East”.

For Ambassador Freeman, the most important factor is that:

“the Saudis, the Emiratis and others informed the United States that they would not permit American operations against Iran from their territory and Iran warned those states that if they did, they would become targets.”

“So in a sense, Iran has achieved the neutralisation of American forces in the Persian gulf that it long sought.”

“From a tactical military point of view it was a ’nothing burger’ - nobody was killed, nobody was damaged - […] but from a strategic point of view, from a soft power point of view, it was a huge success.”

“Iran accomplished its objective and it left Israel with an intolerable dilemma. Israel cannot continue to behave as though it can act with impunity.”

Watch the full interview here: