Actually, the interesting twist is that this round, Iran launched ballistic missiles offensively, not in retaliation for an initial US strike. That would seem to indicate that Iran now knows that every time America has to intercept missiles and drones it will cost them tens of millions of dollars and valuable defensive weaponry. Plus it raised the cost of oil 5% in just one hour. Maybe they can manipulate market prices too. Or it's simply the time-honored slow bleed.