Shayan Semei’i, a national security expert, said the Islamic Republic’s attack on U.S. bases in the territory of a NATO member country is crossing a strategic red line and could turn a regional confrontation into a security crisis at the transatlantic level. He added that such an action would push European countries further toward direct involvement with the United States.

Semei’i also said that after losing leverage from the Strait of Hormuz, the Islamic Republic may be seeking to change the balance of power by attacking critical infrastructure or expanding the scope of the conflict, but this strategy would ultimately lead to the expansion of an alliance against the Islamic Republic and an increase in its costs.