Operation Praying Mantis 1988 – The Shape of Things to Come?

As things escalate in the Gulf, one wonders what a war between Iran and the US would look like. History can serve as an example. Operation Praying Mantis was a US-initiated attack, during the Reagan Administration, on selected Iranian targets including naval units of the IRCG. I suspect a longer and more sustained type of military hostility along these lines is far more likely than a US-led regime change in Tehran. But as we live in 'interesting times', strategic certainty is rarer than usual.