It was a brilliant bit of theater, just like their mass drone response to Israel's last provocation.

In both cases now, Iran has managed to make Israel, and now the US, look both antagonistic and foolish. Their precisely measured responses really highlight the fact that they didn't provoke either of these fights, that they have no intention of engaging in pointless bloodshed, but that, if pressed, they can and will respond in kind.

It makes them look like the only adults in the room.